


Unexpected Side-Effects

by tirsynni



Series: Unexpected Side-Effects [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Almost Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Consentacles, F/M, M/M, Multi, Primarily original game based, Tentacles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-06 16:16:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 80,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1108923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With one action, an overwhelmed Cloud Strife changes the course of history in Nibelheim. It doesn't really get better for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Cloud Strife would have loved to say that his mother had told him there would be days like this.  No, really, he would.  He knew a lot of people who had complained about hearing such clichéd lines, but he truly, honestly wouldn’t mind having a memory of his mother warning him.  He could work with cliché; cliché had to _happen_ for it to become cliché.  In fact, it had to be a damned _regular_ occurrence.

Oh yes.  Cloud wouldn’t mind that line right then.

Sighing, Cloud reflexively tightened and loosened his grip on the Buster Sword.  It wasn’t his, but he had used it enough that it fit comfortably in his hands.  Besides that, he had lost his gun in front of the reactor, and in the Nibel Mountains, one would have to be _insane_ —

Cloud screwed his eyes shut.  Never mind.  There was no way he could go right with that train of thought.

Cloud sucked in a shuddering breath and focused on his surroundings.  With his back to the shallow cave and bandages hiding the glint of the massive blade, the area _seemed_ well defended.  As clever as the Turks appeared, Cloud knew these mountains better than the back of his hand.  If nothing else, Cloud hoped that his distraction would work until . . .

Until . . .

Oh by Hel, what did Cloud do then?

Breath shallow and quick, Cloud glanced behind him.  The pair still appeared to be unconscious, although a little more bruised since Cloud had literally dragged them a good distance.  Just the memory of that renewed the ache in his limbs, the pain in his hands.  For all of his dreams of SOLDIER, he was nothing but a trooper, a pathetic little trooper who was way over his head and who had _killed the_ —

Cloud slammed that thought to a halt.  He steadied his grip on the Buster Sword and forced his hands to stop shaking.

 _When this is all over_ , the blond informed himself, _you can collapse somewhere, sleep for a week, and then have a nervous breakdown.  Not yet._

Until it was over, he had to deal with the fact that he had gunned down Hojo _right in front of the Turks_ , his hometown was gone ( _his mother was gone_ ), his dreams were gone . . .

And his best friend and his commander—

Cloud had to stop and just _breathe_ for a moment.

All right.  Surroundings.  Killer Turks.  Right.  Inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth, Cloud glanced around the mountainside.  It was still several more hours until nightfall, but darkness was already falling over his side of the mountain.  The plants were sparse, but Cloud knew how the shadows could play tricks on even the savviest eyes.  Between that and the fact that he knew of _three_ dragon nests close by, he figured they were decently protected.  Only someone who knew about the dragons could safely pass them.

Cloud just wished things were that simple on _this_ side of the cave.

As if he could hear Cloud’s thoughts, Zack moaned and twisted.  Cloud looked around one last time before creeping back into the cave.  He carried the Buster Sword until he reached Zack’s side and then he carefully placed it beside him: just in case, it would be within reach.  Something leathery and black darted at him, but Cloud didn’t flinch when it gently wrapped around his wrist. 

It might be a tentacle, one of at least a dozen, but it was one of Zack’s tentacles, so Cloud knew he had nothing to fear.

Dragging himself to Zack’s side, Cloud couldn’t resist pulling Zack’s tousled shirt down.  _Well, at least his stomach is covered_ , he thought ruefully, staring where Zack’s groin and legs used to be.  The tentacles were scraped but not as badly as before.  Apparently the SOLDIER’s healing ability covered the tentacles, and he couldn’t believe that he was getting used to them.

He was still contemplating covering them and _how_ he could possibly cover them when the man’s violet eyes flickered open.  He stared blankly at Cloud, and the blond’s hands twitched only a moment before he grasped one of Zack’s hands.  Whatever uncertainty he felt at his invasion of the man’s space vanished when Zack visibly relaxed.

“Cloud?” he whispered, and the hoarseness of his voice almost made Cloud cringe.  Only the realization of what Zack would think he was cringing _at_ stopped the motion.  Why didn’t he think to pick his canteen back up?  Or at least find Zack a better pillow than his jacket so the man wouldn’t be inhaling so much dirt?  “Are you okay?”

Cloud forced a smile.  “Yeah.”  He glanced at Zack’s scuffed tentacles, including the one wrapped around his wrist.  “You?”

Zack flinched, following Cloud’s gaze down to what used to be his legs.  Zack trembled a little, stunning Cloud. He tightened his grip on Zack’s hand.  “I hoped that it was all a dream.”  His eyes widened.  “That means—”

With a flush, Cloud lifted his head and looked past Zack.  He couldn’t believe he forgot the man, even for a moment.  “Yeah…”  What else could he say?

Zack started and twisted so he could look over his shoulder.  “He’s here?”  The SOLDIER’s gaze flicked over Sephiroth’s unconscious body.  “Cloud . . .”  His voice trailed off, and Cloud watched him as he studied the odd manacles holding the General.  “Barrier materia?”

Ashamed, Cloud ducked his head.  The cave was small, barely big enough to comfortably house the two reclining SOLDIERs, but hunched as he was, Cloud took up no room at all.  “I had to steal it from the General,” he admitted wretchedly.  “I couldn’t grab our bags and I didn’t have any supplies and I’m sorry that I couldn’t do better—”

Zack’s tentacle on Cloud’s mouth startled them both.  Unsurprisingly, Zack recovered first.  Not withdrawing his tentacle, Zack said firmly, “Enough of that.  We’re here, we’re alive, and how by the Planet did you stop him?”

Biting his lip the moment Zack drew back his tentacle, Cloud knew that Zack wouldn’t like his immediate thought: _Why couldn’t he stop the General earlier?_

This wasn’t him. This hesitance wasn’t him. He knew he was weak but not _this_ weak but and he had to be stronger and _focus_.

“My canteen,” Cloud murmured.  “I didn’t want to get close to his tentacles” _like my mom did oh by Hel my **mom**_ “so I threw my canteen at his head.  It hit him right in the temple and it was the heavy regulation canteen and—”

Zack covered Cloud’s mouth with his tentacle again.  “Breathe, Spike,” he ordered gently.

Cloud stared at him with too wide eyes. His pulse pounded in his ears. “Ah floph Fofo.”

Blinking, Zack withdrew his tentacle.  “What?”

Cloud licked his lips, tasting something odd that had to have come from Zack’s tentacles.  He blushed and then blushed brighter when he unconsciously licked his lips again.  “I shot Hojo.”  As Zack’s jaw dropped, Cloud ducked his head.  “Right in front of the Turks when he said the tentacles couldn’t be reversed by science and I got him in the neck and I am going to die.”

When Cloud looked up again, unnerved by Zack’s silence, he found the man still gaping.  “Zack?” he asked cautiously.

The muscles of Zack’s throat moved in a thick swallow, his tentacles jerking in an odd tandem with the motion.  “How did you do that without the Turks shooting you?” he asked faintly.

With a flush, Cloud tried to hunch further into himself, but Zack’s tentacles wrapping tentatively around Cloud stopped him.  When Cloud didn’t protest, Zack pulled Cloud against his chest. 

Remembering how Zack had held him the night he had learned he had failed the SOLDIER test, Cloud didn’t try to object.  He simply pressed his forehead against Zack’s shoulder.  “I brought the General here first and bound him,” Cloud admitted, feeling ashamed that he didn’t get Zack first even when he _knew_ Sephiroth had to be his first priority.  Zack’s tentacles tightened around him as if hugging him.  “When I came back for you, Hojo was already there with the Turks.  I think Tifa’s teacher got her out of there; she wasn’t there when I went back and there was no sign of anyone else.  They caught up to me when I dragged you out outside.  Hojo talked about Jenova like he was throwing it in my face, and I shot him in the throat.  The Nibel wolves were already around because of . . . because of . . .”  _because of the slaughter in town_ “…because of everything else, and the Turks weren’t exactly equipped to scare the wolves away.  By the time they dealt with that, I got us out of there.”

The flames kept the wolves away, but the smell of blood kept them close.  And there was so much blood.  There was blood everywhere.  _I had my mom’s blood on my hands_.

He didn’t realize he was hyperventilating until he noticed Zack murmuring in his ear, rubbing his back and rocking him with both his arms and tentacles.  Cloud buried his face in Zack’s shoulder and concentrated on his breathing. 

…dammit. He had more control than this. He planned better than this.

“You’re doing good, Spike,” Zack whispered, hands and tentacles still moving soothingly.   Only _Zack_ could make tentacles soothing.  “You got us out of there and you got us to safety.  Don’t worry, okay?  We’ll figure something out.”

The use of the ‘we’ calmed Cloud more than the blond figured it would.  Exhaling slowly, Cloud pulled out enough to look Zack in the face.  Holding his gaze, Zack placed a steadying hand on Cloud’s cheek. 

“We need to make a plan.”  As he spoke, he stroked Cloud’s cheek with his thumb, and Cloud began breathing in time with the motion.  “I’m not sure how determined the Turks are going to be with Hojo dead.  They were probably going by Hojo’s orders, and all considering, I don’t think ShinRa knew what was going on.  Without Hojo’s orders and probably no orders from ShinRa, either, they may or may not be coming after us.”

Cloud nodded hesitantly, his eyes flicking over Zack’s shoulder.  “What about . . .”  He couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence.

For some reason, with an agonizing clearness, he could remember Sephiroth turning to him and asking him about his hometown.  Huddled in a ball and trying not to vomit before the legendary General, Cloud had not been able to answer clearly.  However, he _could_ hear the wistfulness in Sephiroth’s voice.

Days later, Sephiroth had burned his home to the ground.

Zack glanced at Sephiroth.  His face tightened, and he turned back to Cloud.  “I don’t think that was him,” Zack said, making Cloud’s gaze snap back to him.  The determination in those violet eyes startled the blond.  “We both know him.  If he was going to crack, he wouldn’t do it like that.”  He looked down at his tentacles, most of which were wrapped gently around Cloud.  He hesitated, glancing at Cloud’s pale face, but didn’t attempt to remove them.  “I think it has to do with _them_ , whatever made _them_ . . . sprout out.”

Stiff and silent in Zack’s embrace, Cloud stared at him for a long moment.  “Jenova,” he finally said.

Zack blinked.  “Jen—”  His eyes widened.  “Jenova.  Sephiroth was rambling about her.  Said she was an Ancient and how that made him an Ancient, too.”

Cloud was shaking his head before Zack was finished his final sentence.  “No.  Jenova . . . Hojo injected Jenova into the General.”  A tentacle waved carelessly before Cloud’s nose.  “And you, too.”  He swallowed, realization hitting him hard and fast.  “Probably _all_ the SOLDIERs.  That’s why . . .”

Zack nodded, jaw clenched.  “Yeah.  That sick shit probably had all this planned out.  ShinRa thought he had an army, but it was _Hojo_ ’s army.”  He scowled.  “But what the fuck was Jenova?  Don’t tell me it was an Ancient: there’s no stories about the Ancients having tentacles.”

“She never said.”  That weary voice made Cloud squeak, but Zack twisted and stared cautiously at the bound man.  Sephiroth stared tiredly back, looking older than either man had ever seen him.  “She . . . spoke to me.  She talked about reunions and destruction and genocide, but She never said what She was.”  Those feline eyes looked away from Zack, staring at the ground.  Even the man’s tentacles drooped with an odd resignation.

Cloud had expected to see _something_ when Sephiroth awoke again: that terrifying madness that had destroyed his hometown, anger at being bound, remorse at the destruction he caused . . . not this odd hollowness.  Even the pride that had always held Sephiroth’s head high had vanished, leaving the man slumped and broken.

Was Cloud supposed to be angry?  Was he supposed to scream at him, yell at him for the trust he had broken, the lives he had taken?  Was he supposed to cry? 

All Cloud could do was stare at Sephiroth, feeling the same hollowness echoed in those green eyes gnawing at his guts.  No, he didn’t believe Sephiroth was responsible.  But the only person who _could_ have been responsible was already dead.

What was he supposed to do?

Of course, Zack knew.  He slithered—for there was no other word for it—over to Sephiroth, pulling Cloud along with him.  One arm wrapped securely around Cloud, Zack reached out with his free hand and touched a materia in Sephiroth’s arm bangle.  With a hiss, the binds around Sephiroth’s wrists and tentacles vanished, but the man himself made no attempt to move.  Undeterred, Zack pulled Cloud so the pair was resting beside Sephiroth.

“Are you in control now?” Zack asked quietly. Cloud flinched.

Sephiroth did not.  He never looked up.  “For the moment.  I can still hear Her voice.  She wants me to go back to the reactor, to finish what I began.”  No one needed further clarification on that.

Out of the trio, Zack seemed the steadiest.  He didn’t even seem bothered by his tentacles anymore.  Cloud didn’t know how he could _not_ be, but he wasn’t going to complain.  He was sore and everything ached, but Sephiroth’s dead eyes kept him from resting his head against Zack’s chest and going to sleep.

“Can you maintain control?” Zack persisted, his voice still calm, blameless. 

After only a moment’s hesitation, Sephiroth nodded.  “Long enough.”

Zack’s arm tightened convulsively around Cloud, and the blond glanced between the two in bewilderment.  Long enough?  For a cure to be found?  Remembering Hojo’s words, he grimaced.  How would Sephiroth react to that news?

Zack’s next words confused Cloud more.  “It wasn’t your fault.  We both know that.  It was Jenova’s, whatever that bitch is.  It _wasn’t your fault._ ”

Zack reached out, as if to wrap his free arm around Sephiroth, and for the first time, the man reacted: Sephiroth jerked back against the wall as if Zack had struck him.  Cloud flinched, which only made Sephiroth press harder against the cave wall.  Zack stared at the pair, an emotion that Cloud refused to identify darkening his eyes.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Zack repeated quietly.  “You couldn’t control what happened, no more than you could control _these_ forming.”  He waved at his tentacles, and they seemed to wave back.  Sephiroth’s remained limp in the dirt.  “We think that all of the SOLDIERs had that thing injected in us.”

Remnants of old conversations ran through Cloud’s mind, warnings about Hojo, Zack whispering reasons and threats and countless other things about the dark secrets surrounding Sephiroth’s inhuman strength.

As if reading Cloud’s mind, Sephiroth laughed, a hoarse, bitter sound.  It was so soft that it didn’t even echo through the small cave.  His tentacles remained lifeless.  “He had me longer than the other SOLDIERs.  He’s been injecting me with Her cells all my life.”

“Which only means that you had less ability to fight back,” Zack retorted.  “But now you know the threat.  We can make plans now.”

Sephiroth raised his head, staring incredulously at Zack.  “I destroyed _his_ village, Zack!”  He nodded at Cloud as he spoke, but he never met Cloud’s eyes.  “I killed all of those people.  I—”

Zack’s tentacle covered Sephiroth’s mouth just like it covered Cloud’s earlier.  “You were another victim!” he snapped.  “You couldn’t control that, no more than you could control Hojo’s experimentation.  It was _Jenova_ who did that, not you, and now we have to figure out how to keep this from happening again!”

Cloud had never felt more small or insignificant in his life as he listened to the two men speak.  He remembered collapsing in the village earlier, the image of his mother’s corpse burning his eyes.  As he wept over that like a child, Zack had been helping the survivors and charging after Sephiroth, uncaring of his own fate.  Even when he transformed in the reactor, he didn’t stop, still fighting and trying to bring some sort of resolution to the tragedy.

Feeling like a child at the adults’ table, Cloud clenched his fists.  He couldn’t be helpless.  He couldn’t be a burden to them!

“You transformed because of your proximity to Jenova,” Cloud interrupted.  Both Sephiroth and Zack silenced, and Cloud resisted the urge to hide in Zack’s tentacles, like he had been hiding in his helmet mere days ( _hours?_ ) earlier.  The very urge made him want to laugh, and he could sense the hysteria building in him.  Stubbornly, he forced it away.  “Everything happened because of close proximity to Jenova.”  He took a deep breath and forced himself to look up.  Only Zack met his gaze.  “I’ve never had any injections.  If I could get back to the reactor, maybe I could . . . I dunno . . . drop her in the reactor or something.”

Before he finished Zack was nodding, an oddly satisfied smile on his lips.  “The Turks won’t expect any of us to go _back_ to the reactor.  We’ll have to do that tomorrow.”

Cloud stared at him, a question concerning the ‘we’ on the tip of his tongue.  Instead, he asked, “Tomorrow?”

Zack smiled gently at him.  “You’re shaking and pale, Spike,” he said softly.  “You’ve had one hell of a day.  Yeah.  Tomorrow.”

Cloud wanted to protest but one look at his hands stopped him.  They were trembling, and he quickly clenched them. 

Useless.  Again.

“I’m sorry.”  Sephiroth’s voice made Cloud look away from his hands.  The silver-haired man still wasn’t looking at him, gaze focused on the ground.  Cloud gritted his teeth, _hating_ the look of resignation on Sephiroth’s face.  “I am the cause of your pain today.  You are free to take any justice you feel is necessary.”

“Sephiroth,” Zack started, and Cloud stared at them both.  The words sounded simple, but none of it was making any sense to Cloud.  He had heard the entire conversation—was so close he couldn’t help but hear it—but it seemed to go entirely over his head.

“I already did,” he said, and Zack shut up.  Both men stared at him in confusion, and he explained, “I shot him.  He’s food for the wolves by now.”

As Sephiroth stared, actually looking at his face for the first time, Zack abruptly laughed.  The dark-haired man jumped a little, as if the noise had surprised him, too, but didn’t stop.  “Hojo,” he said with a chuckle.  “Yeah.  I guess you did get your revenge, didn’t you?”

Cloud felt his face flush as Sephiroth continued staring.  Not for the first time, it hit him that it wasn’t his revenge to take.  Whatever had been done to his village, Hojo had been _Sephiroth’s_ to kill.  Cloud had stolen that from him.

And the worst part was that Cloud hadn’t killed him in the name of revenge.  Cloud had simply needed a distraction.

“...I’m sorry.” Unable to look at those oddly vulnerable green eyes anymore, Cloud closed his own eyes. The oncoming darkness was absolute.

xoxoxoxox

“—still pale.”

“Not too surprising.  He had to have dragged us up here.”

“…”

“Don’t.  Don’t start that again.”

“Zachary—”

“And _definitely_ don’t start that again.”

“Zack . . .”

_Zack?_

Cloud tried to say it out loud, but only a moan escaped.  The voices silenced.

_No.  Don’t shut up because of me._

_I’m sorry._

“You knock that off, too, Spike,” Zack ordered gruffly, and he felt something warm and leathery brush against his cheeks.  “Don’t wrinkle your nose at me.  I know what you’re thinking.”

… _I didn’t wrinkle my nose._

“Yes, you’re making faces,” Zack returned patiently.  “Now open your eyes already.  You’re a part of this, too.”

“Zack, are you aware that you’re having a one-sided conversation?”

“It’s not one-sided.  Look.  His eyes are opening.”

Cloud scowled but _did_ finish opening his eyes.  Zack’s grinning face was the first thing he saw, with a tentacle dancing beside his eye.  Behind Zack, he could see Sephiroth’s concerned face.  However, it was difficult to get a good look at either of them, everything bathed in a warm red light.

“Wha?” he mumbled, and Zack wrapped his tentacles and arms around Cloud and helped him into a sitting position.  Mind a little clearer, Cloud looked around and saw the stones glowing crimson.  “What?”

“Fire materia used on the stones,” Sephiroth offered.  He looked at Sephiroth, and the Silver General looked away.  “You . . . you said that the mountains grew cold at night.”

Cloud nodded, wishing he could smile.  He knew the cold wouldn’t affect the SOLDIERs (or would it now? did the tentacles strengthen them?), so he was thankful for the action.  If he could smile, if he could _grin_ like Zack could, maybe Sephiroth would know how thankful he was.

But all he felt was sick.  “Did I . . .”  Cloud’s voice trailed off.  _Did I faint?_   Humiliation did not even come close to what he felt.

Zack held him close, and for the first time, he realized Zack was leaning against Sephiroth.  Zack’s tentacles were wrapped around them both like he could keep them there forever.  Sephiroth’s tentacles were limp, but he was making no attempt to move away from Zack.  In the same instance, he was making no move to come closer.

“You passed out,” Zack replied quietly.  “You had a day that would have exhausted even someone with SOLDIER stamina.  You deserved some rest.”

Cloud bit his lip and didn’t say anything.  Sephiroth glanced at him and quickly looked away.  Zack looked at them both and sighed.  When he yanked them both closer with his tentacles, even Sephiroth couldn’t help a gasp.

“Enough sulking, you two,” he scolded.  “Now, the Turks _may_ or _may not_ be after us, so we have to keep an eye out for them.”

Cloud snorted, painfully aware of his worn muscles.  His lower back ached like someone had punched him.  “If they can get past the dragons, more power to them.”

Both SOLDIERs froze.  Zack awkwardly cleared his throat.  “Ah, _dragons_ , Cloud?”

Cloud blinked at them.  “Didn’t I mention that?”  When neither SOLDIER answered, Cloud shrugged.  “Yeah, I’d avoid leaving the cave for now.  They’re nesting.”

“…”

Another thought occurred to him.  “Ah . . . when I leave to . . . ah . . .”  Remembering how Sephiroth had been talking about his ‘mother’, he coughed.  “When I leave, don’t leave the cave.  And if you hear a weird noise, _don’t move_.”

The pair stared at him, but he barely noticed, remembering what he would have to do.  Up here was safe but what if the Turks were still around the reactor?  What if they were pissed at him for killing their charge right in front of them?  But he had to do it because he couldn’t fail them _again_ —

Zack’s cough distracted Cloud from his thoughts.  He looked up to meet Zack’s wide eyes.  “Cloud?” he asked cautiously.

Tilting his head to one side, Cloud looked curiously back.  “Yes?”

Zack opened his mouth once, closed it, looked at Sephiroth, and then after Sephiroth’s helpless look, looked back at Cloud.  “You dragged us past _dragons_?”

Cloud blinked at him.  “Sure.  The Turks won’t follow us here.”  He paused and considered for a moment.  “Besides, they’re probably taking care of the wolves right now.”

Sephiroth was staring incredulously but not at Cloud.  He was staring at Zack.  “…he dragged us past both dragons _and_ wolves?”

Zack was staring back in bewilderment.  “I thought this was supposed to be a _quiet_ town!”

Cloud stared at them like they had grown an extra head rather than tentacles.  “It _is_.”  His gaze flickered towards the tentacles, and for the first time, he worried that maybe there was more to Jenova than he had originally thought.  Surely SOLDIERs wouldn’t be bothered by mountain dragons and wolves.  Any Nibelheim resident knew how to avoid them, so it would have to be incredibly easy for SOLDIERs with all of their experience.

With that thought in mind, Cloud gently brushed away Zack’s hold and tried to stand.  Zack tightened his grip, stopping him from moving.  “Where do you think you’re going?” Zack demanded.

Yep.  Jenova was surely . . . no, wait.  Zack never did have a lot of common sense.  “To destroy Jenova,” he replied patiently.  He glanced at Sephiroth for support, but the man was still leaning against the wall.  Cloud thought he heard him mumble something, but he had to imagining it.  Why would the _General_ be wondering about the SOLDIER test and requirements?

Turning back to look at Zack, Cloud squawked when Zack tightened his grip.  “No way,” Zack replied flatly.  “You _passed out_ due to _exhaustion_.  You just woke up.  You dragged us past _dragons_ and _Nibel wolves_.  You need to _rest._ ”

Cloud was really beginning to wonder what the deal with Zack and the local animals was.  Didn’t Zack even initially greet him with a comment about how country boys had to stick together?  While Gongaga wasn’t a mountain town, it surely had to have its own problems with the local wildlife.

“It needs to be done,” he retorted and then bit his lip when he realized he was snapping a superior officer’s head in front of the _General_. True, it was _Zack_ and he had done it multiple times before but he had no idea what the situation was now or what level of formality was required.  He looked at the General and realized bleakly that the man still wasn’t looking at him.

Zack gently shook him, turning Cloud’s attention back to him.  “Not right now. You need to _rest_ , dammit!  You’re not indestructible!”

…And what could Cloud say to that?  Helplessly clenching his fists, Cloud looked away from both men.  A tentacle around his chin—wow, Zack was really getting used to those—guided Cloud’s gaze back to Zack.  The man’s face had softened.  “Don’t be like that,” Zack murmured.  “You’ve done an _incredible_ job, Cloud.  But you need to rest, get some more sleep.”

Get some sleep?  When he was the only person who could go _near_ that thing?  Cloud clenched his jaw.  “Jenova needs to be destroyed.  I can _do_ it, Zack!”

Zack held his hands up.  His tentacles remained tight around Cloud.  They were really beginning to annoy the blond.  “I don’t doubt it, Spike,” Zack said soothingly.  “But you need _rest_.”

Cloud took a deep breath, preparing to argue, but Sephiroth cut him off.  “You need rest. You have . . . suffered and fought a great deal today.”  Zack glanced sharply at the older man, but Sephiroth avoided his gaze.  “Sleep while you can.”

Cloud tensed.  He could argue with Zack, was _used to_ arguing with Zack, but how could he argue with Sephiroth?  Especially after everything the man had gone through?

Especially after taking Sephiroth’s kill?

But he couldn’t just give in.  He had to help _somehow_.  He licked his lips.  He nodded solemnly at the General before staring at Zack.  “You have to wake me up first thing in the morning,” Cloud ordered gruffly.  As Zack nodded, Cloud glared at him.  “ _And_ you have to alert me at first sign of trouble concerning Jenova!  Anything unusual, anything at all, and I want to know!”

Both men started, but Cloud didn’t care.  He glared for all he was worth, knowing that he probably looked like a kitten facing a pair of tigers but not caring about that either.  These two were all he had left in the world right then.  He wasn’t going to lose them, too!

Zack yielded first, even as Sephiroth stared at him in astonishment.  Cloud made a mental note to apologize ( _grovel_ ) later to the General.  “Sure, Spike.”  Zack grinned like Cloud hadn’t seen since they arrive in Nibelheim.  “We can do that.”

Nodding in satisfaction, Cloud allowed Zack to ease him back to his chest.  Even as he wished he could stay up a little longer, find some way to help, his body urged him to follow Zack’s and Sephiroth’s advice.  With a sigh, he closed his eyes.

Ten minutes later, he wished he had passed out again.

The pair was talking in hushed voices above his head, Zack idly stroking Cloud’s hair as he spoke.  _Don’t they ever sleep?_   He remembered Zack’s pitiful excuse for a pillow—Cloud’s jacket—and mentally cringed.  _I knew I should have grabbed **something** earlier._

The pair’s voices were soft, soothing, lulling Cloud to the edge of sleep but not _into_ sleep.  It struck Cloud as mildly odd how nice it felt in here, surrounded by Fire-warmed stone and held by tender arms and tentacles.

Cloud decided then and there that apparently his troop was more right about him than he had ever thought.

“—sorry for hurting your lover, Zack.”

Cloud was trying not to listen, but they were so close, and they were the only sounds he heard.  Dozing lightly, he listened to their conversation.

“My lover?  How hard did Cloud hit your head with that canteen, Seph?”

“My head stopped aching hours ago.  Why?”

“Because I have a girlfriend, not a lover.  Her mom won’t let us be alone long enough to be lovers, though _that's_ going to change when we get back.  And she’s still in Midgar.  …Or did you think Tifa was, because I think Cloud would kill me if I tried anything. And I don’t think you’re counting…”

Cloud really, _really_ did not want to eavesdrop, but he couldn’t help but agree with the part about Tifa.  Of course, if Tifa thought Zack was using her for only a fling, she would kill him herself.

What did Zack mean about Sephiroth counting someone?

“…I’m sorry.  I thought . . .”

“Stop apologizing.  You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I . . . mistakenly believed you and Strife were lovers.  I assumed . . . because the way you two acted . . .”

Cloud hated the hesitance in the once-proud man’s voice.  Jenova—Hojo—had stripped him of his incredible self-control and transformed him into the Demon of which everyone spoke.  Every doubt and fear Sephiroth ever had, Hojo had thrown in his face.

Perhaps it wasn’t _Sephiroth_ ’s kill Cloud stole.  Considering how long Zack had painstakingly worked on Sephiroth’s confidence, perhaps it had been _Zack_ ’s kill.

“Cloud and me?”  Zack’s surprise was unmistakable.  The man’s hand stilled in Cloud’s hair.  “We’re buddies.”  After a small pause, Zack’s fingers resumed moving, carding through long, dirty spikes.  “He . . . you saw how only Tifa had been looking forward to seeing him again.  I think . . . I think he was ostracized or something in this village.  Something about his dad, I dunno.  He never really talked about it.”  Zack hesitated.  “But . . . he looked like someone who could use a pal.  Someone . . .”  Zack’s hand stilled again.  “He reminded me of you, actually, when I first saw him.”

If Cloud had been more awake, he would have gaped.

After a long pause, Sephiroth laughed bitterly.  “I am sure all such comparisons have been long destroyed.”  Sephiroth’s scathing tone _hurt_ Cloud, and he felt Sephiroth’s tentacle brush against his leg.  “Strife is not capable of something like _this_.”

“Seph, dammit—”

The helplessness in Zack’s tone hurt Cloud, too.  He wished he could help, wished he could do _something_ , but what could he offer two SOLDIERs?  He couldn’t even manage to get into SOLDIER himself.

The pair’s voices quieted until they were little more than background noise.  Finally lulled to sleep, Cloud only managed to catch one last bit of their conversation. 

“Did he really drag us past _dragons_ , Zack?”

xoxoxox

The hand shaking Cloud’s shoulder was so familiar he was grumbling “Go _away_ , Zack” before he realized he wasn’t lying on his usual bunk.

Or Zack’s couch, for that matter.

Disturbed by the odd combination of skin and leather and brisk Nibelheim air, Cloud forced his eyes open.  It took a moment for Cloud to remember why his body ached—though not _nearly_ as much as before—and why Zack was holding him with far too many limbs.

For once, Cloud was grateful for all the escapades Zack had led him on during the past two years.  It kept him from jerking or crying out better than any official training.

 _The Cure materia in the Buster Sword_ , Cloud remembered, tentatively flexing his hands.  When they didn’t immediately cramp, he wanted to smack himself in the head with one of them.  It was one of the few materia Zack carried.  Zack had been _bragging_ about them.  How could he have forgotten?

In the dim red light, Cloud saw Sephiroth staring at him.  Remembering what he had just growled at Zack, he flushed.  Was it too late to tack on “Sir”?

As if reading his mind (again), Zack ruffled his hair and grinned at him.  “Don’t worry about it, Spike,” he murmured.  The brunet winked.  “Right now’s as informal as you can get!”

Cloud could think of several exceptions to that but now wasn’t the time to voice them.  He pulled away from Zack’s embrace.  Several tentacles lingered, and Cloud shivered at the odd sensation.  Definitely unusual but an ‘unusual’ he could live with.

Except he wasn’t supposed to live with it.  None of them were.

Stubbornly, Cloud pushed his disappointment away.  He had _other_ things to worry about, dammit!

Zack was frowning at him, lips pursed and eyes dark. In response, Cloud tried to muster a smile.  He knew he failed miserably.  “Now then?” he asked.

Zack hesitated, and Cloud realized one lone tentacle was still wrapped around his wrist.  He glanced at it, noting that, while filthy, it still looked better than earlier.  Small scars marred the smooth leather of it, and he bit his lip.  Was it from the fight with Sephiroth or from Cloud dragging him over the rocks?

If he hadn’t failed the test . . .

“If you’re ready,” Zack said quietly.  “Don’t push yourself.”

Cloud met those worried eyes, and this smile came a little easier.  “I’m ready,” he assured him.  “I can do this.”

Zack nodded, his glowing eyes sweeping over him.  “Be careful,” he ordered.  “Watch out for the Turks.  And keep an eye out for the wolves!  They might still be hunting.  And _definitely_ keep a sharp eye out for the dragons!  Don’t try to fight them or deal with them.  Just _hide_ , okay?”

For some reason, Zack’s worry about the dragons dispelled some of Cloud’s own nervousness.  For a native of Nibelheim, particularly one whose family descended from the mountain, the dragons were a danger but a _known_ one.  He didn’t fear them. 

The Turks, however . . . yeah.  He feared them.

Sephiroth’s hand lightly touched his wrist, only to immediately flinch away.  When Cloud looked at him, he saw despairingly that Sephiroth wasn’t looking at him again.  Those glowing green eyes were focused on the cave wall beside Cloud’s head.  Despite the fact Cloud was standing in the small cave and Sephiroth was still reclined, the General made him feel like a pathetic child.

Maybe . . . if he succeeded with this . . .

No.  No point in even thinking about it.  He just had to complete this mission and hope that Jenova’s destruction would help Sephiroth.

Blue eyes flicked in the direction of Zack’s tentacles, which were now making interesting designs in the dirt.  He doubted Jenova’s destruction could help _him_.

Frowning, Cloud turned and walked towards the mouth of the cave.  Without the light of the Fire-warmed stones, the mountain was still dark, dawn still a little bit away; however, Cloud knew he had nothing to fear.  He had traveled these mountains since he could walk, sitting on the edge of various cliffs and watching the sun rise.  He would have to keep a sharp eye out for the Turks, but hopefully, they would assume the trio was fleeing Nibelheim.

Cloud hesitated at the mouth of the cave, looking back at the pair.  They stared worriedly back. 

Of course . . .

“ _Don’t_ leave the cave,” Cloud warned.  “There are at least _three_ nesting dragons.”  He took another step, hesitated again, and then glanced at Zack.  “And don’t tease them!”

Not waiting for a response, Cloud hurried down the mountain.  He left Zack’s Buster Sword for him, and Sephiroth still had his materia.  They would be defended well enough in case the Turks _did_ find them.

At least, they would be well defended from external threats.

Cloud moved as fast as his weary limbs could carry him.

xoxoxox

In the end, Cloud saw no sign of the Turks.  Of the Turks themselves, anyway.  Close to the reactor, he found signs of a fight, and he recognized the distinctive prints of a red dragon.  Closer to the reactor, wolves’ prints were everywhere, and crimson painted the dirt.

Cloud needed no scientific training to know that the wolves had torn Hojo apart.

The glass holding Jenova was cracked, and Cloud decided not to mention that to either Zack or Sephiroth upon his return.  He felt guilty enough for throwing a canteen at the General’s head, no matter how dire the need.  There was no need to inform them that Sephiroth’s _head_ had struck the glass hard enough to crack it.  However, it _did_ explain why Sephiroth had remained unconscious for so long.

With his recovered rifle, Cloud was able to finish ‘opening’ Jenova’s container.  Only _after_ finding some leftover gloves (Hojo’s, perhaps?  Zack would love the irony) did Cloud drag what he could of Jenova through the reactor to where he could push her into the mako.  As he pulled her, he expected to feel _something_ , to hear that dark voice of which Sephiroth had spoken, to see some evidence of the creature that had led to the destruction of his hometown.

There was nothing.

That did not stop the surge of satisfaction Cloud felt when he pushed Jenova into the mako.

The liquid surged and Cloud thought he saw something writhe within it.  He waited a little longer, just to make sure, but fear of the Turks urged him back out of the reactor.  Walking away, Cloud glanced at the path that once led home.  With a whisper, Cloud fled to where the SOLDIERs were waiting.

As Cloud had expected, hungry wolves had covered the trio’s tracks, but they also made it difficult to discern whether the Turks had traveled that way.  Not much of a tracker, Cloud focused on keeping his own tracks hidden.

Cloud was so focused on watching his step and keeping an eye out for enemies that he didn’t think about what the SOLDIERs had to be doing while he was gone.  Even without thinking about it, however, Cloud still wasn’t surprised by the sight that greeted him.

 _They’re SOLDIERs,_ Cloud reminded himself, walking along a deer trail to the cave.  With his two companions standing at the mouth of it, the cave wasn’t hard to find.  _If they’re out of the cave, they have a reason.  They’re too disciplined to risk themselves for fresh air.  They . . ._

The deer trail led Cloud to level ground with the cave, allowing him a clear view of everything.  The mountain boy stumbled.

_Their tentacles are . . . gone._

_And oh, by Hel, what is all that?_

Forcing himself to breathe, Cloud carefully stepped over what looked like it used to be a dragon head.  It was small with what appeared to be whip marks along its snout.  It was only with supreme effort that he didn’t flinch when he stepped over _something_ that came from the dragon.  “…What did you do, Zack?”

He actually meant for his first comment to be something concerning the lack of tentacles.  He suppressed the instinct to scold them with mental reprimands of _they’re SOLDIERs, idiot, and you’re not so they know better than you what they’re doing_.  Supposedly, that left him with relief: with the tentacles gone, that _should_ mean that Jenova’s other effects would be gone.

However, all his despairing mind noted was the dragon corpse and the gunk on Zack’s naked bottom half (if _Zack_ was naked that meant _Sephiroth_ was naked and _now_ was the time for eye contact).  Blood and . . . other things splattered Zack’s legs in an odd pattern.  _Was he fighting the dragon when he shifted and **eye contact!**_

Zack held up his hands, and Cloud almost groaned when he noted Zack’s hands were filthy, too.  In odd contrast with his naked bottom half, Zack still wore his uniform top, complete with sword casually sheathed on his back.  The hilt of the sword was colorfully decorated with bloody handprints.

“So totally wasn’t my fault!” Zack protested.  Under Cloud’s steady stare, Zack wilted.  He shifted from foot to foot, leaving oddly blackened footprints.  “Mostly . . .”

Sephiroth coughed, the sound remarkably sheepish coming from the General.  He stood closer to the cave, one hand resting on the moss-covered rock.  “Whoops?”

Both Zack and Cloud stared at him.  Then Cloud realized he was staring and almost yelped, jerking his gaze back to Zack.  However, the picture of Sephiroth’s nearly nude form was clear in his mind: pale, smooth, near immaculate, with only the barest bits of blood marring his beauty.  A dark part of Cloud’s mind wondered how much of that blood was from the _dragon_ , and he forcibly concentrated on Zack. Which only reminded him of the splattered gore. 

“Zack,” he said flatly, “you touch me now, and your hands go the way of the tentacles.”  He glanced at the man’s dirty hands.  He shook his head, trying to drive that image from his mind.  “We need to get you guys some clothes.”

Zack grinned.  “Prolly.  But first a bath.  You know of a stream or lake I can clean up in?”

After a moment, Cloud sighed, resigned.  “Yeah.  Follow me and keep quiet.”  Feeling Sephiroth’s gaze on him again, he flushed and turned to the General.  “Ah, if you wouldn’t mind following me, Sir.”  He hesitated, wondering if it was his place.  It was only the memory of his mother that forced him to ask, “Is she . . . _gone_ , Sir?”

Beside Cloud, Zack stilled at the question, but Sephiroth only stared back.  Before the man even spoke, Cloud felt his heart sink.  “Not completely.”

 _Not completely_.  Cloud blanched, fists clenching helplessly at his sides.  Which meant Jenova was still alive.  Which meant . . .

Which meant that he had failed.

Zack reached over and gripped Cloud’s shoulder.  “Don’t worry.”  He waved at his legs.  “You’ve done good.”

“Very well,” Sephiroth confirmed.  His words were soft but gained strength as he continued.  “She’s not completely gone but She’s greatly weakened.  I no longer have to fight Her for control.”

Cloud glanced hesitantly at the pair.  They looked calmly back at him.  Taking a deep breath, Cloud strengthened his resolve.  There was still plenty to do.

Looking at the remains of the dragon, Cloud frowned.  What little brush covered this part of the mountain was drenched with blood and . . . other things.  “The scent will arouse the other dragons,” Cloud said aloud.  “They’re going to be really defensive of their nests.  It’ll probably attract the wolves, too.”  He glanced at the pair ( _eye contact!_ ).  “If there’s anything you left in the cave, you better get it now.  We won’t be able to come back.”

Zack laughed and patted the sword strapped on his back.  Knowing Zack, that blade was probably cleaner than he was.  “I have everything right here.”

Sephiroth nodded towards the materia on his wrist.  “I will need to recover Masamune later,” he admitted. 

Nodding at them both, Cloud started walking along the mountain.  His clever feet easily found steps in the brush and rocks.  “Stay close to me,” he called over his shoulder.  “This one’s mother is probably lurking around somewhere.”

Seconds later, he decided it must have been his imagination when Zack breathed, “ _Mother?_ ”

xoxoxox

“So let me get this straight,” Cloud said calmly, reclining on a rock.  His blue eyes were focused on the sky above him, the sight clear of smoke but still reminding him of a view that hadn’t been so free.  However, between staring at the sky and staring at his companions, he chose to stare at the sky.  “You managed to stir up _three_ nests during your recon and managed to piss off a dragon so much that she actually _left_ the nest and followed you to the cave.”

Splashing in the pool like a child, Zack laughed.  “Well, it wasn’t _entirely_ my fault, you see.  The dragon was partly to blame, too!”

On the far side of the pond, standing in a small waterfall, Sephiroth did nothing to argue for or against Zack’s case.  Since Cloud had led them to the secluded spot, Sephiroth had isolated himself.  While Zack played in the pond close to where Cloud relaxed, the brunet terrorizing the mountain trout, Sephiroth deliberately stood upstream beneath a ragged cliff.  The stream ran over the cliff, pouring over him before splashing into the pond.

Both SOLDIERs were surely picturesque at that moment: one majestic, the other wild.  However, Cloud was determined not to look at either of them.  Soldiers to the bone, the pair had shamelessly stripped off their remaining clothing and plunged into the icy water.  Still too anxious to even shower comfortably with his troop, Cloud felt grateful that he hadn’t been involved in the bloodbath.

Thinking of his troop, Cloud smiled bitterly.  When they heard where he was going, they had thrown him a small party to wish him luck.  He wondered if he would ever be able to tell them how everything turned out.

“Hey.”  Slick fingers touched Cloud’s chin, drawing the blond’s attention from the sky.  Cloud allowed the move, and he met Zack’s concerned eyes.  Apparently, the brunet had dunked himself during his play, because his wild black hair lay limply over his face.  Drops of water trickled down Zack’s skin, and belatedly, Cloud realized how close Zack was.  “You okay?”

Cloud blinked.  Settled on his rock, he was almost eye level with Zack anyway.  With Zack resting his arms on the rock, the pair _was_ level with each other.

“I’m fine.”  He blinked again, a little cross-eyed.  Zack was _really_ close.  “But . . . what are we going to do now?”

Zack twisted so he could rest his head on the stone beside Cloud’s.  That close, Cloud could feel Zack’s breath.  “Go back to the ShinRa mansion,” Zack said simply.  “We get our supplies and then contact the other SOLDIERs.  After that, we get a hold of ShinRa.”

“Huh?  Why the SOLDIERs first?”

Zack grinned viciously.  “To help us _convince_ ShinRa that Hojo really fucked up.”

The mental image of that coaxed a soft laugh from Cloud.  Zack’s grin gentled at the noise.  “Hey, Cloud,” he began quietly.  “I never thanked you for everything you’ve done.  Damn, you were incredible the past few days.”

Staring at Zack like he was insane, Cloud shook his head.  As if he hadn’t noticed Cloud’s denial, Zack continued speaking.

“You really saved our asses, Cloud,” Zack continued earnestly.  “I—”

A choked off cry interrupted Zack.  A loud splash immediately followed.

Since Zack had been concentrating on Cloud and Cloud had been doing his damnedest not to look at _either_ of them, neither had any warning to the sight that greeted them.

“Seph!” Zack yelped, pushing off Cloud’s rock and plunging towards Sephiroth.  Gasping, Cloud sat up.

By the time Zack reached Sephiroth, the man had managed to pull his tentacles under him to steady himself.  “I-I don’t know what happened,” Sephiroth managed.  Ignoring Sephiroth’s efforts to compose himself, Zack waded through the water and Sephiroth’s tentacles to his friend’s side.  Sephiroth stared helplessly at him.

“Well, it’s a good thing you were already naked,” Zack quipped, wrapping a reassuring arm around Sephiroth’s waist.  “Do you know what triggered it?”

Cloud’s eyes automatically followed the motion of Zack’s arm and then hastily jerked them back up.  He looked at Sephiroth’s face in time to see Sephiroth smooth out his expression.  However, Sephiroth’s writhing tentacles revealed his agitation.

“I fear . . .” Sephiroth said slowly, one tentacle clinging to Zack’s leg, “that I may have been more upset than I thought.”

Zack’s face tightened for a moment, but then he was smiling again.  “Ah, no problem.  Least we know they aren’t permanently gone.  Makes sense, really.  We still have the Jenova cells in us.  Which means . . .”

“You both are susceptible to transformation,” Cloud said.  His heart ached when he realized Sephiroth wasn’t looking at him again.  _Dammit_.  “You could transform again, too.”

Zack tightened his grip on Sephiroth’s waist, and Sephiroth glanced at his friend.  Neither said a word, but Cloud felt like he would interrupt some conversation if he spoke.  He swallowed and spoke, anyway.

“I’ll get us some supplies,” he said softly.  “You guys . . . can you figure this out?  I’ll be back soon.”

Both of them jerked and stared at Cloud, but he was already rolling off his rock.  They needed some food and a new place to rest. 

And they would need a moment, anyway.

After a moment of though, Cloud grabbed Zack’s sword and sheath.  They would be all right, and his gun would be too noisy.  He glanced quickly at them, saw how they were still intertwined, and hurried down the mountain.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should have mentioned this in the last chapter, but Artimusdin had a huge, painfully significant role to play not only in the creation of this fic but in its ongoing nature. She is also kind enough to give this fic -- and many other fics -- a nice once over before I post, so feel free to throw blame her way. XD

For all of the SOLDIERs’ skills and strengths, _Cloud_ was the native ( _one of the last_ ) of the area.  He had wandered that mountain since he was a child and knew the creatures, knew the terrain.  He knew what he could dodge and, armed with Zack’s Buster Sword, knew what he could kill.  While the SOLDIERs possessed many superior traits, Cloud’s knowledge of the area allowed him to safely secure both food and shelter.

If Zack had heard that logic, he could have pointed out Wutai and all the lands the SOLDIERs had traversed.  This would have allowed Cloud, in turn, to point out the native wildlife.

In that hypothetical situation, Cloud would have won, hands down.

Keeping a wary eye out for Turks and angered dragons, Cloud slipped along deer trails.  Tired and worn, he avoided ravines and walked as straight a path as he could manage.  Zack’s Buster Sword renewed the fierce ache in his back, but his usual trick helped keep him motivated:

He pretended he was Zack.

Within that mental shelter, warmed by the familiarity of Zack’s confidence and strength, Cloud found a secure shelter and successfully killed their dinner, something he felt was large enough to feed two SOLDIERs and a teenager.  His mental cocoon lasted until the return trip to the stream.

_Has it been long enough_? Gently placing his kill on the ground for a moment, Cloud cracked his back.  The loud noise made him pause and look around, but only a Zuu called back.  Adjusting Zack’s blade, he grabbed the carcass again and resumed moving.  He had tied a branch to its legs, and Cloud hoped the leaves would help cover his trail.  _It has to be: they’re SOLDIERs.  They can do this_.

A dark whisper pointed out that Sephiroth’s status as the _General_ of SOLDIER hadn’t helped him before.  Cloud stubbornly forced it away and latched onto something else instead.

_What are they going to tell the other SOLDIERs?_  Cloud paused again in the pretense of straightening the branch.  As good as the break felt on his back, Cloud wished he hadn’t stopped: it made it all the harder to pick up the carcass and keep going.  _Zack’s relying on their support.  If Zack says they’ll help, they’ll help, right?_

Cloud could hear the rushing of water.  He forced himself not to slow, to walk steadily.  He had told them—and himself—that he would help.

Still, it would be easier to win support if a flailing tentacle didn’t smack them.  Surely—

_“Hey, Seph, look what I can do!  Hey, Seph, check this out!  Seph?  Seph?”_

Surely if they could deal with Zack, tentacles shouldn’t bother them at all _._

Sighing wearily, Cloud dragged their dinner through the trees lining the stream.  At the water’s edge, he dropped the corpse and stared at the pond.  Yet another scene he wished would surprise him.  During his two-year friendship with Zack, that feeling had become rather familiar.

“See, Seph!” Zack boasted, a swinging tentacle almost striking Sephiroth in the face.  The General leaned slightly back so it swung past him.  “There are more uses for them than you think!”

Obviously Cloud wasn’t the only one used to Zack’s . . . quirks.  Sephiroth didn’t blink at the sight of his subordinate swinging upside-down in the trees, held up only by his tentacles.

Fascinated by the display of strength and agility in something as childish as swinging in the branches, Cloud paused and just watched for a moment.  He could see the bruises from yesterday’s battle with Sephiroth still marring Zack’s long torso, but they didn’t seem to bother Zack at all.  His handsome face flushed—whether due to the blood rushing downwards to it or due to his excitement, Cloud didn’t know—Zack seemed to dance upside-down, his sleek black tentacles moving like snakes.  To Cloud’s shame, he could feel himself flushing, heat rising within him as he watched muscles moving under tanned skin, smooth tentacles writhing and twisting.

Swallowing roughly, mouth dry, Cloud looked at Sephiroth, wondering if he still had his tentacles, and felt his flush deepen.  No.  The man’s tentacles were gone, leaving two long, pale legs in their stead.  The water gave the illusion that they were even longer than they truly were.  Even after the chaos of the past twenty-four hours, the man was still beautiful, as godly as Jenova had claimed him to be.

When Cloud comprehended what he was doing, he stared at the water.  They were both beautiful, no matter what Jenova and Hojo had done to them, and so far above him it made his chest ache.  The realization of how inappropriate his worship was in this setting only made it worse.

Then Cloud realized exactly where Zack’s tentacles were.  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he called.

Both SOLDIERs turned at the sound of his voice, the smoothness of the motion betraying their lack of surprise.  “Cloud,” Sephiroth began, his voice barely loud enough to carry, and then it trailed into silence.

From his perch above Sephiroth, Zack appeared to be looking past Cloud.  No, the blond realized.  Zack actually was looking past him.  “What the—”Zack blurted out, eyes wide.

Cloud’s own eyes were widening.  “Look _out_ —”

Zack’s shriek cut them both off as the wildcat bit one of his tentacles.  Cringing, Cloud watched as Zack’s new limbs released the branches, sending him face-first into the pond.  From above the trio, the large, gray cat hissed and snarled before bounding into the trees.

“Zack,” Cloud groaned, jogging towards the water.

Sephiroth reached the spitting, sputtering brunet before Cloud.  “That does answer several questions concerning the sensitivity and reactivity of the tentacles,” Sephiroth noted, grabbing one flailing arm and hauling Zack up.  Looking like a drenched dog—just one with tentacles—Zack clung to Sephiroth and glared balefully at the trees.  To Cloud’s relief, he saw that Sephiroth no longer flinched at Zack’s touch.  However, even standing naked in the middle of a mountain stream, Sephiroth stood all but at parade rest.  Sephiroth’s straight-backed pose would have looked odd on anyone else, considering he held Zack with one hand and held one of Zack’s tentacles in his other hand.  “Durability, as well,” he added, and Cloud saw how the wildcat’s teeth had barely pierced the smooth tentacle.

“So you’ve been having luck figuring things out?” Cloud asked hopefully, thinking of Sephiroth’s legs.  Remembering to whom he was speaking, Cloud flushed again and added a belated “Sir?”

“Enough of that, Cloud,” Sephiroth ordered quietly, holding Zack steady.  Before Cloud’s eyes, the tentacles began to writhe and shift, black bleaching into tan.  Zack hissed, face tightening, but his tentacles slowly began to transform into legs: actions over words, apparently.  “As Zack had explained, we are far past formalities.”

Which actually made Cloud wish he had been more formal from the start.

Cloud expected Zack to start on how _tiresome_ formalities were and somehow end his tirade with the joys of nakedness, his own nakedness being an example.  However, Zack only stared behind Cloud.  “Cloud,” he said slowly, “what’s that?”

Staring at Zack for a moment, Cloud then looked over his shoulder.  He saw the hilt of Zack’s Buster Sword out of the corner of his eye and wondered why he hadn’t taken it off yet.  “That?” Cloud inquired.  At Zack’s small nod, Cloud shrugged.  “Dinner.”

“Dinner.”  It wasn’t Zack who repeated the word: it was Sephiroth, pale face thoughtful.

Cloud glanced at his companions, glanced back at the carcass, and then at his companions again.  Something was wrong with it: that much was obvious.  Thinking a little, Cloud flushed and stared sightlessly into the pond.  Even if Zack was from Gongaga and Sephiroth was born in Nibelheim, the pair had lived in Midgar for years.  He had seen what Zack and Sephiroth regularly ate: respectively, take-out and Wutainese.  This would probably be beyond unorthodox for them.  “I couldn’t find a deer and . . .”  And he hadn’t felt like such a country bumpkin since his old commanding officer had not been able to discern his words due to his accent.  Even if Zack was a country boy, too, he was _Zack_.  That was _different._   “Would you like me to find something else?”

“Cloud,” Zack said, as slowly as before, “that’s a Nibel wolf.”

“Well, yes.”  Cloud met Zack’s wide eyes, wondering if they were having the same conversation.  It was a familiar feeling.  “I needed something all three of us could eat this evening.”  His stomach growled, and his flush returned with a vengeance.  “Or now.”

The slow voice didn’t waver.  “Don’t Nibel wolves run in packs?”

Definitely not the same conversation.  “Don’t all wolves?” he asked, puzzled.

Sephiroth interrupted before Zack could continue with his odd interrogation.  “How many did you kill, Cloud?” he inquired quietly.  However unusual his question, he was looking at Cloud again rather than looking past him, and that made Cloud more than happy to overlook his strange question.  He was even happy to overlook Sephiroth’s too-calm tone and sharp eyes.

“Three.”  Cloud frowned.  Maybe that was the problem: they recognized that wolves ran in packs and expected more.  How fast was a SOLDIER’s metabolism?  “…if you want, I can go get the others.”

The sharpness of Sephiroth’s eyes gentled.  “No.  No, thank you.  One is enough.”  He pulled away from Zack, and pouting, Zack released him.  When Cloud realized that Sephiroth was about to step out of the water, he hastily looked up at the trees.  “I assume you found a new shelter?”

Studying the dark branches, Cloud nodded.  “Yes.  It’s a little bit of a walk, though.  It’s not safe to stay near the stream.”

“Too many predators,” Zack agreed.  Judging by the splashes, he, too, was exiting the stream.  Cloud didn’t look at them, still examining the branches.  Even with all of Zack’s weight resting on them, the branches showed no evidence that anything had been wrapped around them.  He remembered Zack’s tentacles around him, as smooth as worn leather, and swallowed.

Something brushed against Cloud’s shoulder, making him look forward again.  Sephiroth stood before him, his long coat thoughtfully hiding his nudity.  Zack’s uniform top didn’t work quite as well, and Cloud made sure he maintained his gaze at least at neck-level.

“I’ll carry the wolf so you may lead the way,” Sephiroth said.  Cloud reflected that only Sephiroth could make that sound like a polite order.

Cloud smiled hesitantly at him.  “All right.”  _Thank you_.

After Zack recovered his sword from Cloud and Cloud picked up his rifle, the trooper led the way away from the stream.  The trio heard dragons roaring in the distance and at one point had to avoid a Zuu hungry for their kill, but beyond that, the trip was uneventful.  The cave was larger than the last one, allowing Cloud to stroll carelessly in, Zack to wander in almost as carelessly, and Sephiroth to hunch rather than bend himself backward.

Plopping on the ground towards the back, Cloud gingerly stretched his limbs.  The cold stone instantly froze his ass and his back still ached, and Cloud found himself wished he were back in Midgar on Zack’s couch again.  He wouldn’t even mind that spring that always, impossibly, found the back of his knee.

When he realized how pathetic that wish was, he blocked it out of his mind.

“Nice,” Zack commented admiringly, dropping to the ground beside Cloud.  Sephiroth placed the wolf carcass on the stone floor and then gracefully slipped to his knees before the pair.  “Small but cozy.  Could do with some decorations, though.  Hey, Seph, how does a wolf rug sound to you?”

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.  “A wolf rug.”

Zack nodded enthusiastically and launched into a lecture about the value of rugs and decorations and homely things.  Sighing, Cloud rested his head against the cave wall and closed his eyes.  He focused on Zack’s ramblings, using that to block out his thoughts.  Even under the circumstances, Zack’s voice was as warm and soothing as hot chocolate.  It poured over him, and Cloud slowly relaxed.

He didn’t realize he had dozed off until Zack gently shook his shoulder.  “Dinner’s almost ready, Spike,” Zack said softly.

Blinking, Cloud straightened.  Zack smiled at him and then moved to Sephiroth’s side.  Around them, the stones glowed red, contrasting against the darkness falling outside the cave.  In the middle of their temporary home, Sephiroth was calmly roasting the skinned wolf with his Fire materia.

“No smoke,” Zack explained, grinning cheekily.  He nodded at the mouth of the cave.  “And if the Turks happen to notice us, well . . .”

Cloud followed his gaze and groaned.  Zack apparently had his wolf rug, complete with a ‘welcoming’ message of  “Hello Fuckers!” and a graceful drawing of a heart.

One had to love Zack.  Or hate him.  Or both.

“Was there any sign of the Turks, Cloud?” Sephiroth inquired, and Cloud turned to meet Sephiroth’s eyes.  Unlike so much of yesterday, Sephiroth willingly met his gaze, his green eyes focused and almost analytical.  The legendary self-control Hojo and Jenova had stripped from him was back, and while Sephiroth seemed visibly tenser than before—his back too straight, his hands too still—he still seemed composed.  It would be easy to envy him if Cloud didn’t remember what had happened to his self-control.

“Nothing new.”  Cloud detailed what he had seen, including the signs of Hojo’s demise and the wolf trails.  He admitted that, while there might have been evidence of the Turks, the wolves might have accidentally destroyed it.

Sephiroth nodded and looked back at the wolf.  The smell of the roasting meat filled the cave, and Cloud self-consciously placed a hand on his stomach as it growled.  If he was hungry, he didn’t want to imagine how hungry the SOLDIERs were with their enhanced metabolism.

“You wouldn’t find any signs of them, anyway,” Zack said, playing with what appeared to be a wolf fang.  He stretched out his legs, uncaring of how the dirt clung to his leg hair, and Cloud hastily looked away.  However, he had time to notice the rest of the wolf’s fangs scattered around Zack’s knee.  “You don’t see a Turk unless they don’t care if you see them or not.”

Cloud blanched, and Sephiroth looked reprovingly at Zack.  Unlike Zack and Cloud, both of whom looked like they had been rolling around in the cave, the man seemed as clean as ever.  “The Turks probably don’t have orders, so they are focusing on surveillance.  Unless we show offensive action specifically at the Turks, they won’t interfere.”

“Which means we shouldn’t have any problems getting back to the mansion!” Zack finished happily.  Eyes wide, Cloud looked back and forth between them.  No doubt showed in their eyes, only a casual confidence.  They displayed no uncertainty concerning themselves, their skill, or their knowledge, and he wondered if that was what came with SOLDIER or what made them SOLDIERs.

Maybe that was why he couldn’t pass the test.

Maybe that was why he always failed.

Biting his lip, Cloud pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around his legs.  No.  They were focusing on the future, so he had to focus, too.

Then Zack threw him for another loop.  Leaving Sephiroth to finish cooking their dinner, he strode over to Cloud and plopped again beside him.  “So,” Zack asked, gesturing at the wolf, “how did you figure out how to take that down?  Being a native probably taught you how to avoid them, but I don’t remember seeing the others killing their own food.”

Zack smiled charmingly when he spoke, but Cloud recognized the lupine glean in his friend’s eyes.  Cloud’s gaze snapped to Sephiroth ( _too soon too soon native one of the last_ ) but the man only met his gaze with those analytical eyes again, back too stiff but his hands and mouth calm.  Aware of how childish he must look in his current pose, Cloud carefully released his grip and straightened his legs.  “My mother was quite skilled, and when she met my father, he taught her some of his techniques. She taught me how to use those skills to hunt wolves,” he said quietly.  “He showed her before he was sent to Wutai.”

“Wutai?” Sephiroth echoed, and Cloud tensed, but Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, making it clear it was only supposed to be polite encouragement.

Absently, Cloud wondered if another one of those silent conversations was going on above his head again.

 “He was a soldier,” Cloud explained.  “He came with several other soldiers to guard the scientists who used to work at the mansion." He smiled, remembering his mother's stories of how his father used to do impersonations of the scientists, Only now did he realize that his mother never mentioned names. "That was how my mother met him.”

Zack leaned closer, legs twitching oddly.  “You never mentioned your father was a soldier.”

Cloud shrugged.  “I didn’t like talking about home.”   His hands clenched convulsively.  _Not that it matters anymore_.  Before any of them could think too much about that—particularly Sephiroth—he hastily continued, “My mom was the only one who would teach him about the town’s history, so they really hit it off.  Everyone else was focusing on Midgar and the reactors, but Mom was always interested in the town’s past.  They got together during her stories.”

He smiled wistfully.  The only time his mother ever showed interest in anything was when she told stories about his father or about the town.  Cloud always encouraged his mother to tell stories.  He loved to see the light in her eyes.

“I don’t remember anyone named Strife in Wutai,” Sephiroth commented, eyes distant.  “Do you know his infantry?”

Cloud bit his lip, remembering when the letter came.  “His name wasn’t Strife.  I don’t know what his last name was.  He kept it secret, something about the scientists.”  Something else he didn’t think about that he should have.  “Strife was my mom’s name.”

The glow of the SOLDIERs’ eyes intensified, and Cloud realized belatedly that maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned the scientists.  Swallowing, Cloud turned and examined the cave wall.  Right now _really_ wasn’t the time for that.

“Dinner is ready,” Sephiroth announced, breaking the tension.

Face lighting in a grin, Zack sat up.  “I’ll cut it!” he chirped, yanking out his Buster Sword.  Cloud and Sephiroth looked at each other and then inched backwards.

After everyone ate and Sephiroth made Zack clean up the mess and freeze the remains, Zack offered to entertain the pair with his tentacles.  Sephiroth forced him to put them away, and sulking, Zack pulled his tentacles away from Cloud’s legs.  It took several more moments for Zack to calm Cloud down again, and even then, he couldn’t figure out why Cloud had been shivering.

Silence fell over the trio.  Feline eyes distant, Sephiroth stared out of the cave, one hand absently rubbing his legs.  Zack sat between Cloud and Sephiroth.  Through his lashes, Cloud watched them both, recognizing Zack’s game face.  He knew Zack, at least, was making plans.  He didn’t bother flattering himself imagining what Sephiroth was thinking.  He wanted to help, but what could he do?  What plan could he make that could compare to one of theirs?

Resisting the urge to wrap his arms around his legs again, Cloud lightly nibbled on his lip.  Tomorrow would be a long day, and he was exhausted and sore.  The best thing he could do for all of them was sleep.

Even with something like a plan finally made, Cloud felt miserable.  The best thing he could do was sleep.  Wow.

Huddling as discreetly as he could, Cloud closed his eyes.  For the first time in Zack’s presence, Cloud felt as alone as he did when he originally lived in Nibelheim.

And he hated himself for that selfishness.

xoxoxox

When Cloud awoke again, it was to the gentle green like of a Cure spell.  “Idiot,” Zack murmured affectionately, his voice coming as if from a distance.  “Why didn’t you say something?”

Cloud blinked groggily, trying to get his bearings.  “Wha?” he mumbled, rubbing one eye.  He heard Zack chuckle and struggled to focus.  Dawn’s first light teased the area outside of the cave, tentatively lighting up the cave’s entrance.  In the dim light, all he could see of Zack was a dark silhouette, and he blinked again.

Zack kneeled in front of him, bringing him sharper into focus.  “You were moaning in your sleep,” he explained.  “You probably hurt your back when you were hauling around the wolf and my sword.”  He reached out and ruffled Cloud’s drooping spikes.  “You’re not a SOLDIER yet, Spiky.”

“I’m not a SOLDIER period, Zack,” Cloud corrected, gingerly pushing himself into a sitting position.  He grimaced and considered asking Zack to cast Cure again.  Maybe it wasn’t yesterday that hurt his back; maybe it was sleeping slouched in a cave that did it.

“Yet,” Zack reiterated.  He leaned back, and Cloud realized they were alone in the cave.  “How are you holding up, Cloud?”

Caught in mid-stretch, Cloud paused and looked at Zack.  All he could see was his friend’s glowing eyes, bright and focused on him.  He slowly pulled his arms back down.  “Fine.  You?”

Even in the shadows, he could see Zack’s wry smile.  “Fine.”  Zack hesitated, and a strong hand rested on Cloud’s shoulder.  “You’ve . . . been through a lot these past couple days, Cloud.  If you need to talk, I’ll listen, okay?  Really.”

Cloud couldn’t help a smile at Zack’s earnest tone.  “I’ll be okay,” he reassured him.  He hesitated before quietly offering, “And . . . I’ll listen.  To you, too.  If you want.”  Cloud licked his lips.  “I’m . . . I’m not the one who grew tentacles, after all.”

Sephiroth reentered the cave to the sound of Zack’s laughter.  He raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.  Instead, he walked over to the pair.  “There’s leftovers, if you would like some,” he offered to Cloud.  “Zack and I have already eaten.”

Cloud smiled hesitantly at him.  “Thank you.”

_I won’t hold you guys back.  I promise._

After Cloud had eaten and refreshed himself, he led the pair back down the mountain to Nibelheim.  The semi-relaxation of the previous night had vanished, leaving the trio tense and far too aware of where they were returning.  Sephiroth’s silence behind Cloud was almost as loud as a scream, and no matter how hard Cloud tried, he couldn’t slow his racing heart.  Agonizingly aware of the _whoosh_ of his breathing and his pants rustling against his legs, Cloud tried to be as quiet as possible.  Behind him, though, Zack seemed ignorant of the idea of stealth.

“So what stories did your mom tell your dad?” Zack asked, hopping so he could look over Sephiroth’s shoulder.  Sephiroth almost walked on Cloud’s heels, looking straight ahead.  Cloud was waiting for Zack to trip or Sephiroth to turn around and “help” him trip.

Focusing on the deer trail and wondering how sharp the Turks were, Cloud didn’t glance back at Zack.  “Just Nibelheim legends,” he replied, hoping Zack would take the hint from his soft voice.

Not taking the hint in the slightest, Zack continued merrily, “Gongaga doesn’t have a lot of legends.”  Cloud swallowed and trudged onwards, _willing_ the man to quiet a little.  “Nothing too impressive there, really, certainly not _legends._   The wildlife’s fun, but that’s it.”

“And I’m sure all of the wildlife knew you before you left,” Cloud retorted.  Zack’s tone threw Cloud a little: a little too much, a little too bright.  Disturbed, Cloud adjusted his rifle and looked around.  Still quiet.

“Yep!”  Too loud, a sharp contrast to Sephiroth’s silence.  Swallowing, Cloud shifted his gun again.  It felt too light over his shoulder.  “Because everyone knows I’m a real—”

“Finish that thought and I shoot you,” Cloud interrupted sharply, and the words even _felt_ sharp, glass shards in his throat.  He could feel Sephiroth’s presence behind him, as heavy and tense as a rain cloud.  Cloud found himself waiting for the thunder.

In the same way, Cloud could feel Zack’s grin, just as brittle as Cloud’s words.  “All the more reason you should talk instead,” Zack sang out.  “What types of legends do you know?  Any ‘wildlife’ in them?”

Cloud looked around again, willing some _wildlife_ to appear.  Any other distraction than the one Zack proposed.

Of course, there was no sign of Zack’s dragons.

Or Turks.

“Nibelheim legends were about goddesses and gods, stuff like that,” Cloud forced out.  He _hated_ telling stories.  “I mean, there _are_ animals mentioned.”  _Like wolves_ , he was tempted to add but stilled his tongue.  A thought hit him, and he brightened.  “My dad had a favorite story, though. Mom said he asked her all the time to tell it to him. Most of the gods and goddesses weren’t really centered anywhere—I think they were more metaphors than anything—but one had a home.”  Cloud smiled wistfully, remembering how many times he had heard this legend at his mother’s knee.  “She was the goddess of this area.  The goddess of ice and the dead.”  Cloud laughed softly.  “Dad’s favorite legend was how she sealed—”

A hand on his shoulder knocked him out of his memories.  Cloud involuntarily jerked in surprise, and the hand vanished.  Pausing, Cloud turned to see Sephiroth staring beside him.  “Poison ivy,” the man said simply.

Cloud stared at him for a moment before slowly smiling.  “Thank you.”  He didn’t bother mentioning that he knew about it, because that wasn’t the point.  Sephiroth’s eyes flickered towards Cloud.  Cloud only caught Sephiroth’s eye for a moment, but that was all that was necessary.  However distant the man was now, he was in control.

And then it occurred to him how he could turn the tables on Zack.

“Hear that, Zack?” Cloud called, carefully stepping around said patch.  “There’s poison ivy.  Need me to point it out to you?”

If Zack’s incredulous wail didn’t attract attention, nothing would.  Cloud found himself not caring.  “It was _once_ , and I _apologized_ already!”

Cloud smiled a little, noticing the steady brightness of Zack’s voice.  _Much_ better distraction.  “The apology would have worked better if you had figured out the problem _before_ we were quarantined,” he replied drolly.  A little more relaxed now, Cloud finally felt like he could peel his fingers away from his rifle.

A quick peek over his shoulder revealed Sephiroth’s painfully stiff posture but interested eyes.  Good.

“How was I supposed to know?” Zack protested.  “The troops bore all the signs of a biological attack.”

“Watch it, Zack,” Cloud quipped.  “Your vocabulary’s showing.”

“ _Hey!_ ”

Fortunately—or unfortunately—for Zack, Sephiroth quietly interrupted.  “How was poison ivy mistaken for biological warfare?”

However melodramatic it might have been, Zack’s groan wasn’t feigned.  Cloud smirked.  “When Zack and I met, it was on a mission.  There were a couple SOLDIERs as well as several groups of regular troopers.  My troop was among them.”  Zack’s despairing whimpers music to Cloud’s ears, Cloud continued, “He recognized my accent and made a comment about how country boys need to stick together.”  Zack’s whimpers grew in direct correlation with Cloud’s smirk.  “Then said country boy led the SOLDIERs through the woods and came back with poison ivy attached to their boots.  Most of the regular troopers, including me, fell victim to it.  Since the SOLDIERs were immune, _someone_ got the bright idea it was biological warfare by the rebels.”

Oh yes.  That was an honest whine.

“Mercy, Cloud,” Zack moaned.

The deer trail faded away as regular paths became dominant.  As neither SOLDIER seemed worried about the Turks, Cloud boldly stepped onto one of them.  When no protest came, Cloud’s confidence concerning his decision grew.

“The troopers were able to figure it out before the SOLDIERs,” he continued merrily.  “We saw the poison ivy sticking out—”

It was like someone had used a lightning materia on the party.  The SOLDIERs, with their heightened vision, saw it first.  Cloud’s familiarity with the area allowed him to see it immediately afterwards.  His story died on his lips.

While the town was still hidden by the rocks, none of them could miss the black smoke, lazily dancing in the air.

 


	3. Chapter 3

In the distance, Cloud could hear Zack’s voice, his low, soothing tones echoing through the empty mansion. Cloud knew what the man was doing: trying to coax Sephiroth out of his shell. Cloud had no idea where the man had summoned the strength to enter the town, to make the necessary calls . .

  
And to his shame, he couldn’t bring himself to care, either.

  
Curled up in a ball on the floor, arms wrapped childishly around his legs, Cloud stared blankly at the far wall. He had stayed close just long enough for the calls to be made, uncertain what the pair wanted to do. When Sephiroth had locked himself in the bedroom and Zack had turned his focus on his friend, Cloud had taken the time to slip away.  
  
He had done his part. He had helped them in the mountains.  
  
There was nothing he could do for them now.  
  
Not seeing the faded paint and the piling dust, Cloud just stared. He remembered being younger, hiding in the mountains and sometime even in this mansion when the bullying grew too rough. He almost wished for that feeling of loneliness, because this ache was far worse.  
  
If he looked to his right, if he bothered trying to look past the dirty glass, he would be able to see Nibelheim still smoking.  
  
Shaking his head, Cloud focused. He felt jittery, muscles tense. He stood with a stretch. _And after hiding here for fifteen minutes_ , he remembered ruefully, _I would have to kill something for dinner for Mom and me_.  
  
He glanced towards the window one last time and was mildly grateful for the grime covering it. He could see the outlines of the houses ( _all that was left were outlines_ ) and nothing more. If he didn’t look too closely, the dirt effectively hid the smoke. If there were fires still burning, he couldn’t see. It would be easy—too easy—to pretend that nothing had ever happened.  
  
No. He wouldn’t try to forget: just push it out of his head for a moment. Shaking his head a little, Cloud crept away from Zack and Sephiroth, even as he knew they were too busy to notice him going. No reason to blatantly distract them, after all.  
  
As Cloud slipped down the darkened hallways, his boots tossing up dirt, it occurred to him that he had never really explored the house. The soldiers had only walked from the front door to the bedroom. Sephiroth had hid himself in the library. When he was younger, Cloud only walked in far enough that the other kids couldn’t find it. No one, not even Zack, had actually explored the mansion.  
  
 _Well_ , Cloud thought darkly, _I have plenty of time to kill_.  
  
The mansion creaked and groaned as he walked, and it took little effort for Cloud to make himself as small as possible as he went. He thought he heard low snarls and remembered every single horror story the other kids had told about this place. He heard something that sounded like whispers and remembered his mother’s wary eyes.  
  
Cloud quietly adjusted the rifle over his shoulder.  
  
Perhaps it was the fact that it was subtly forbidden or perhaps it was to make his search easier, but Cloud decided to start at the library. Remembering the shouts echoing up the stairs, remembering the feel of madness and hate creeping up, darkening every corner of the house, Cloud started downwards. _I’ll just work my way back up_ , Cloud convinced himself, Sephiroth’s Jenova-mad eyes bright in his mind. _Start in the library and work from there._  
  
Later, Cloud would be convinced that it was karma that made those steps break.  
  
Well, technically, it was one step. Just one. Cloud hung to the railing for the most part, leaning to the side just once to get a better look at everything. His boot hit one weak point, and then everything moved. The step snapped away from the others, swinging away from the other steps. With a yelp, Cloud dove for the railing . .  
  
And missed.  
  
With a deafening crack the step completely snapped away, and Cloud felt the world drop out from under him. He managed one breathless yelp before he hit the ground. He instinctively rolled, trying to minimize the damage. Later, he would also be convinced it would have worked better if he hadn’t rolled into something.  
  
Namely, a door.  
  
Which led into something else solid.  
  
Cloud slammed into it, what little breath still in his lungs whooshing out. Too stunned to feel hurt, even as a frantic part of his mind pointed out the fact he couldn’t breathe, Cloud stared upwards into the dark.  
  
When something creaked above him, Cloud couldn’t move to check it out.  
  
When glowing red eyes stared down at him, Cloud couldn’t find the breath to scream.  
  
“Why are you disturbing my rest?” something whispered.  
  
Cloud wheezed in response, and those red eyes narrowed. They swept over him; Cloud shivered at the cold feel of that mental dissection. “ShinRa,” Red Eyes snarled.  
  
Gesturing weakly, Cloud tried to explain, but it only made his chest hurt. He pushed himself up, closer to Red Eyes, but the new position made it easier to breathe. It didn’t help the ache in his head, but he figured he could ignore that.  
  
A cold claw clutched Cloud’s shoulder, and he tried again to scream. Only an odd whistle escaped.  
  
“Breathe, Child.” For some reason, that deep voice reminded him of Sephiroth. That allowed him to finally calm down enough for his chest to relax, and he breathed shallowly for several moments. The claw remained heavy on his shoulder, but the memory of that voice kept Cloud from panicking again.  
  
Of all the people Cloud had met in his travels, this creature was the first to actually remind him of the great General. The realization of how amused Zack would be at the comparison—how a stranger hiding in a darkened room with glowing red, demonic eyes reminded him of Sephiroth—eased the last of the tenseness out of his chest. As if sensing that, the stranger released his grip.  
  
“You should not have left your home, Child,” the stranger continued reprovingly, only his soft voice and glowing eyes evident in the darkness. “Stop playing around in ShinRa affairs and ShinRa clothes and go home. Leave me to my rest.”  
  
There was so much wrong with those sentences Cloud didn’t know where to start. Helplessly, he shook his head and then cringed. Owwww. “My home . . .” What could he say? _My commanding officer burnt my home to the ground thanks to . . . thanks to . ._  
  
“Leave now, Child.” The impatience in the stranger’s voice was searing, making Cloud tense. “You’ve disturbed me enough.”  
  
 _Thanks to_ . . . “Hojo,” Cloud blurted out. Even in the darkness, he knew the stranger had completely frozen. “Hojo . . . he destroyed my home.”  
  
Because in the end, it was entirely that man’s fault.  
  
And killing him hadn’t done a damned thing to resolve it.  
  
It took a moment for the silence above him to register. He looked up, and the sheer fury in those red eyes made Cloud shrink back down. Belatedly, it occurred to him that he should have called to Zack instead of talking to this stranger. Would Zack even hear him, though? Zack was on the top floor, and he was all the way in the basement. And he had broken the stairs. . .  
  
“Where is Hojo?” Red Eyes snarled, making Cloud think he should try anyway.  
  
“Dead,” Cloud whispered. The silence grew heavier, and he wondered where his rifle had fallen.  
  
“How?” The word was almost painful in its strength. Remembering the layout of the basement, Cloud tried to think where his gun might have fallen. Of course, it would have worked better if he knew where in the basement he fell.  
  
Swallowing and hating his sense of honesty, Cloud murmured, “I shot him.”  
  
Red Eyes didn’t answer immediately, and Cloud began looking around. He could see a crack of light from the broken doorway. How fast could he move? How fast could Red Eyes move? And how fast could Zack get down here if Cloud screamed?  
  
“You shot him.” That echo really reminded Cloud of Sephiroth. Not knowing if Red Eyes could see him but believing he could, Cloud nodded.  
  
“In the neck.” He swallowed again and added quietly, “He was food for the wolves.”  
  
Red Eyes’s reaction startled Cloud. “Good,” he said venomously. There was a creak and then the red eyes were rising, and Cloud could only stare blankly.  
  
A coffin. Red Eyes was in a coffin.  
  
For the first time, Cloud wondered how hard he had hit the ground.  
  
“Child.” This time, breath back, Cloud succeeded in screaming when he realized Red Eyes was right in front of him. Red Eyes quickly moved back, and Cloud hunched against the wall.  
  
Gun. Had to find a gun. Or something. He went through the door, so maybe there was some broken wood he could use. Broken wood could be used as a stake, right? Stakes were good, right?  
  
“I am not going to harm you,” Red Eyes murmured soothingly, and Cloud saw him make some sort of gesture. In the faint light, all Cloud could see was movement. “Hojo was an old . . . acquaintance of mine. If it is true, if you had succeeded in killing him, then I owe you a great debt.”  
  
Did the man just bow? Cloud thought he did.  
  
He had to have hit his head.  
  
No, Cloud realized, straining his eyes. He had only had one Mako shot, but he had been told he arrived with abnormal levels of Mako in his bloodstream anyway. It enhanced his eyesight a little, enough to see that man was simply . . .  
  
Straightening his cape.  
  
Oh.  
  
“No problem,” Cloud replied faintly, and this time when the man came closer, he saw the Red Eyes was extending a hand. Dazed, he reached out and allowed Red Eyes to help him up. When he swayed, dizzy and sore, Red Eyes kept a steadying hand on his shoulder.  
  
Silence fell over them, and Red Eyes simply stared at him. Uncomfortable and unnerved, Cloud offered, “I’m Cloud Strife . . . ah . .. Specialist Cloud Strife.”  
  
Was he a specialist anymore and no, that line of thought could wait.  
  
“Vincent Valentine,” Red Eyes replied quietly. Perhaps seeing how Cloud was squinting, Red Eyes—no, Vincent Valentine—used the hand on his shoulder to guide him out of the dark room. Now Cloud could see that the door had almost been camouflaged into the wall.  
  
Why? Who was this man? And why had he been sleeping in a coffin?  
  
Valentine guided Cloud to the lab. Along the way, Cloud spotted his rifle and scooped it up. Valentine didn’t say anything, just led him into the room. Cloud had only been in the lab once, and even in Zack’s presence, the lab had disturbed him. Alone with this stranger, the alien lights and cold metal and gleaming Mako tubes were frightening.  
  
His first glimpse of the stranger did not help.  
  
Cloud reminded him that he had filled his quota for screaming today and did not need to extend past it.  
  
 _Yeah_ , Cloud thought dazedly, looking over the man. _It was a cape. Red eyes and a cape and a claw and Zack—_  
  
And Zack was right there.  
  
“Get away from him!” Zack roared, sliding between Cloud and Valentine. Gasping, Cloud jerked back, wide eyes watching Zack’s tentacles explode out from where his legs were supposed to be. They writhed angrily beneath Zack, and Zack held his Buster Sword defensively in front of him. He was a terrifying sight at that moment.  
  
Unfortunately, so was Valentine. Red eyes blazing, Valentine whipped out a gun faster than Cloud’s eyes could follow, and it was a gun and it was at close range and how well could Zack defend himself with that sword?  
  
Whipping his own rifle out, Cloud decided not to find out.  
  
Both combatants froze when Cloud shot at the ceiling. “Stop!” he shouted. When the pair stared at him with wide eyes—even Valentine—Cloud stared determinedly at them. “Don’t look at me like that. You two were the ones who were about to kill each other.”  
  
Zack spluttered while Valentine raised himself up like an indignant feline. Cloud lowered his gun and looked incredulously at them both.  
  
None of the troops would ever believe him, Cloud decided.  
  
And he couldn’t believe he had just shouted at them like that.  
  
Shaking his head and ignoring the resulting headache, Cloud looked at the pair. Vincent had hid his gun back wherever he had originally had it and was staring pointedly at Zack’s tentacles. As if oblivious to them, Zack studied the man back, taking in the cape, long hair, and odd boots. Cloud cringed, watching Zack’s tentacles lash out. Even if Zack’s face had calmed, they revealed his continuing agitation.  
  
“So,” Zack said finally, “who’s the vamp?”  
  
Now it was Cloud’s turn to splutter. The fact that Zack had yet to . . . put away . . . his tentacles made it worse. “Zack!” Cloud stubbornly tried to ignore the fact that he first thought that, too. Embarrassed, he looked at Valentine, who was still studying Zack’s tentacles with an odd glitter in his glowing eyes. Cloud had to give him credit: if _tentacles_ didn’t disturb him, what did? “His name is Vincent Valentine.” Realizing that was almost all of his information, he added helpfully, “He knew Hojo, too.”  
  
At the “too” part, Valentine hummed softly and finally looked away from Zack’s tentacles. Cloud waited for some sort of comment but none came. At least, no comment came from Valentine.  
  
“ _The_ Vincent Valentine?” Zack wheezed. His tentacles froze. “The _Turk_ Vincent Valentine?” Zack stared at Valentine, who didn’t even bother looking at him. It was as if now that he knew Hojo was probably responsible for Zack’s new appendages, he no longer had any interest in him. Cloud was really beginning to wonder about how Valentine knew Hojo and how that led to the man being in the coffin. “Holy fuck, you are a vampire!”  
  
Cloud took a moment to try to figure out how Zack made the leap from Turk to vampire. He only tried for a moment, though. He knew better than to try for too long. “What?”  
  
Valentine remained silent, his glowing eyes sweeping one last time over Zack—specifically his tentacles—before sliding shut. Cloud had never seen anyone dismiss Zack so thoroughly before. As for Zack, he looked hesitantly between Cloud and Valentine. Flushing, Cloud realized it was probably classified.  
  
 _Trust Zack to blurt out something like that when it’s classified_ , he grouched to himself. Cloud shook his head. He knew enough classified things at the moment. He didn’t need to know any more.  
  
“What do you know about Hojo?” At first, Cloud thought Valentine was asking Zack. It would be the logical thing: Zack’s connection to Hojo was clear in his tentacles, and Zack’s superior rank was clear in his glowing eyes and uniform top. However, he realized those intense eyes were focused on him. Zack, Cloud noted, had automatically moved to answer before he caught that. Now the older man simply looked bemused.  
  
“He . . .” Cloud helplessly trailed off. Where to start?  
  
Eyes glinting oddly, Zack spoke up. His tentacles were strangely still, not even a twitch to be seen. “We were sent here—”  
  
“I did not ask you.” Another way Valentine reminded Cloud of Sephiroth: as mild as his voice was, it contained a steely edge that shut Zack up. Instead of looking indignant, like Cloud expected, Zack only stared icily back at Valentine. There was a hard edge to his eyes that Cloud had rarely seen before.  
  
“No, you didn’t,” Zack agreed. “However, I am one of the commanding officers on this mission. We were sent here to explore unusual phenomena.” He smiled, sharp and fierce. “And a man in a cape claiming to be a Turk who died over twenty years ago counts as unusual phenomena.”  
  
Valentine blinked, the first time Cloud had seen him do that. “Over twenty years . . .” he murmured. Then what Cloud could see of his face smoothed out. “I see.” He looked Zack over again, eyes cool. “A commanding officer has no room to speak when his subordinate delivered the fatal shot while you only bear Hojo’s mark.” Scathing comment delivered, he resumed ignoring Zack, focusing on Cloud again. Zack bristled, eyes glowing hotly, and Cloud wondered if he could discreetly exit the lab.  
  
“He is my commanding officer,” Cloud said quietly. Why was this man so interested in him, anyway? Zack was the SOLDIER. Cloud was just a specialist: he had told the man as much.  
  
Was it because of Hojo? Cloud swallowed. Had he stolen another kill?  
  
Who had first dibs on that guy, anyway? If that guy was really as old as Zack implied, would it be Valentine?  
  
“He is not the one who killed Hojo,” Valentine returned, his voice deceptively mild. “And he is not the one who awakened me.”  
  
Cloud flushed, and Zack stared at him. Thankfully, he did not question. However, he did resume glaring at Valentine. Cloud wondered if he would have to break out his rifle again.  
  
“We came—” Embarrassed, Cloud cleared his throat. “Ah, I mean, General Sephiroth—”  
  
“Sephiroth.” The word was quiet, totally without inflection, but Cloud wanted to hide away from those abruptly intense eyes. Valentine didn’t look angry: just intense. “He is a general, then?”  
  
Zack’s glare faded. “By Bahamut,” he murmured. “If you don’t know that, maybe you have been sleeping for a while.”  
  
Cloud felt like they were discussing something far over his head again. It was like when Zack and Sephiroth spoke earlier: there was something beneath their words, like another conversation playing out. How much was he missing?  
  
Valentine looked like Zack had never spoken. His eyes never left Cloud, making the blond wish he had his helmet again. However, he had no idea where he had lost it.  
  
…Right. In the reactor.  
  
Cloud licked his lips. “Yes,” he said softly. “He was made a general during the war with Wutai.” As he had suspected, no recognition shown in Valentine’s eyes.  
  
Over twenty years . . .  
  
Taking a deep breath, Cloud plunged on. Only a Specialist. No right to question. “General Sephiroth, Colonel Fair,” he nodded at Zack, “Sp-Specialist Eliot,” _dead and unburied_ “and I were sent here to check on disturbances in this area.” He paused, trying to figure out how to word it in order not to insult the General. Zack interrupted him before he could get farther with his story.  
  
“Don’t, Cloud.” Valentine’s gaze snapped towards Zack, but Zack stood tall. “Maybe he is the Turk Valentine. However, that doesn’t mean we have to tell him anything.” He hesitated a moment and then nodded firmly to himself. “We’ll take him to the General. Sephiroth should have something to say.”  
  
Cloud’s breath caught at the odd glitter in Valentine’s eyes. There it was again. Something silent and heavy in the air. What was he missing?  
  
“Agreed,” Valentine said.  
  
The trip back upstairs was made in silence. Zack stood between Cloud and Valentine, and when Cloud tripped on the now missing step, both Valentine and Zack reached out to catch him. Their hands touched the other instead. While Zack jerked back, Valentine waited until Cloud had recovered before languidly straightening again.  
  
Cloud didn’t know how Zack made it up the stairs with his tentacles jerking like that. He didn’t pay enough attention to find out, either.  
  
With every step, the already tense silence grew more electrified. It intensified the ache in Cloud’s already hurting head, and by the time they reached the upper floor, his head was pounding. Not wanting to heighten the tension anymore, Cloud remained silent and trudged on.  
  
Sephiroth opened the bedroom door before Cloud touched the doorknob. Belatedly, Cloud realized that he must have been wondering where Zack had disappeared.  
  
“Cloud,” Sephiroth began. Then he frowned. “Are you all right? What happened?”  
  
 _Why are you asking me what happened?_ Cloud wondered. _Why not Zack?_  
  
It took a moment to realize that Sephiroth wasn’t looking at Zack or Valentine or even behind Cloud. Sephiroth’s concerned eyes were examining Cloud’s face, and then they drifted to the side of Cloud’s head. Confused, Cloud raised his hand to where Sephiroth was looking. Feeling something warm and wet, Cloud pulled his hand back and looked at it.  
  
Blood.  
  
Cloud remembered occasionally watching movies and shows in the rec hall with the other troopers. They would laugh when a character would get shot and not react until someone had pointed it out to the person, and everyone would snicker when a character would run off a cliff and not fall until he realized he had actually run off a cliff. Feeling as if someone had hit him with a Quake materia, Cloud decided he would never laugh at those shows again.  
  
To Cloud’s humiliation, his last words before passing out were “Well, that explains a lot.”  
  
xoxoxox  
  
 _This is getting old_ , Cloud grouched inwardly, feeling the familiar energy of Cure wash over him.  
  
Cloud heard Zack chuckle softly above him. “He’s awake. He’s blushing.”  
  
Knowing he was blushing harder but unable to stop himself, Cloud quickly took note of the rest of his body. His headache had dulled, thankfully. To his surprise, the pain in his shoulder and back had dulled, too: he had not even noticed it until it had faded.  
  
“Zack,” Cloud groaned, forcing his eyes open. Of course, Zack’s face wasn’t the first one he saw.  
  
Sephiroth’s was.  
  
For the first time, Cloud wished he could faint again.  
  
“Are you all right?” Sephiroth inquired, and Cloud’s breath caught when he realized where he was: stretched out on Sephiroth’s bed, his head resting on Sephiroth’s legs. Slowly, as if expecting Cloud to flinch away, Sephiroth rested his hand on Cloud’s forehead. Instead, Cloud swallowed and managed a sickly smile.  
  
“Y-yeah. I’m fine.” Cloud knew now was the time to get up, but caught in those concerned green eyes, Cloud didn’t move.  
  
Sephiroth had pants on now, Cloud noted dazedly. He could feel the warm leather against his neck, and it reminded him of Zack’s tentacles.  
  
Cloud knew then that he would never stop flushing.  
  
Particularly when he realized that Zack was also on Sephiroth’s bed, reclining against Sephiroth’s back, one large hand resting on Cloud’s shoulder. Cloud met his warm violet eyes and felt his smile grow a little firmer.  
  
Like this, for a moment, he could believe he had a place.  
  
With a startled blink, Cloud looked around, and the moment was lost. “Where’s Valentine?”  
  
The pair tensed; Cloud regretted asking. “He stayed around long enough to make sure you were all right,” Zack answered. “Then he left. I think he’s checking out the rest of town.” Sephiroth’s hand stiffened minutely on Cloud’s forehead. “Why didn’t you say you were hurt, Cloud?”  
  
Oh. Right. That. “I forgot,” Cloud admitted. The pair stared at him; Cloud smiled weakly.  
  
Noticing Zack’s now clad legs, Cloud flushed. The pair was warm against him, but he forced himself to move, anyway. He was due for a shower and a change in clothes. “I’ll be back,” he said.  
  
Sephiorth’s hand lingered for a moment before vanishing. Zack held on long enough to squeeze his shoulder. “If you feel like exploring again,” Zack warned, “ask one of us to go with you. There may be a couple more surprises lurking in here.”  
  
 _And you don’t trust  Valentine_ , Cloud concluded. He nodded quietly in acknowledgment, grabbed his duffel bag, and left the room.  
  
“So,” he heard Zack’s voice through the door, “when do we leave for Midgar?”  
  
Sephiroth’s response was almost too quiet to hear: “Soon.”  
  
Biting his lip, Cloud hurried to the bathroom. It was old and rickety, mold lining the tub and the walls, but it had hot water. That was all Cloud cared about at the moment.  
  
As Cloud stripped out of his grimy uniform, he couldn’t help but wonder how badly he smelled and how good was the SOLDIERs’ sense of smell. Turning on the water, Cloud wished that thought had never occurred to him. Not only because of the return of the omnipresent flush but because now wasn’t a good time to think about them period.  
  
He was alone, naked, sixteen-years-old, and he was thinking about two of the most beautiful people he had ever met.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Cloud turned on the water, tested it with the back of his hand, turned up the hot water, and then stepped into the shower. All he had to do was concentrate on washing. And not slipping in this old tub. Then he would be fine.  
  
Cloud grabbed the soap and began roughly scrubbing himself. Too late, he recognized the scent of the soap: Zack’s scent.  
  
Fuck. Cloud reached out and turned up the cold water a little. It didn’t help. As if taunting him, his mind replayed images of Zack in the pond, naked and wet and hot, with tentacles and with legs. He remembered the oh-so-smooth feel of Zack’s tentacles, and Cloud swallowed thickly when he realized the memory of Zack’s tentacles— _tentacles_ —were arousing.  
  
But it was true. Cloud rested his head against the shower wall, uncaring of the grime, and groaned weakly. When Zack had wrapped them around him, they had been so smooth and strong and warm. Cloud licked his lips, tasting the rust in the shower water, and tentatively slid his hand downwards.  
  
He was hard. The gods damn him, but he was hard.  
  
Cloud licked his lips again and remembered. His hand stroked slowly as he lost himself in memory. So warm and smooth, sliding over Cloud’s skin as Zack sought a more secure grip. There was the barest hint of friction, rubbing him as the tentacle moved. Cloud groaned and tightened his grip.  
  
Against his will, he imagined the tentacle moving in other places: he imagined Zack’s tentacles sliding around his ankles and then slowly moving over his bare legs. Swallowing roughly, Cloud imagined them moving higher, dragging up his legs, sleek and sensuous past his knees . . . to his thighs . . . Cloud groaned, hips bucking as he pulled at his cock. He was already close, damn his hormones. Damn his thoughts.  
  
Leaning against the wall, Cloud tilted his head so he wouldn’t get shower water in his mouth and panted. He tightened his hand around his aching cock and forced his hand to slow, stroking from the root to the leaking head. Imagining Zack’s tentacles on his thighs, slowly spreading him, Cloud thumbed the slit at the tip of his cock.  
  
And then it was just Zack’s tentacles on Cloud’s thighs: it was Sephiroth’s, too. On the inside of his thighs, moving higher, higher . . .  
  
With a choked gasp, Cloud came.  
  
After he watched the shower wash his mess away, Cloud sank to his knees and caught his breath.  
  
He hated being sixteen.  
  
When Cloud returned to the room, Sephiroth and Zack seemed too immersed in their conversation to notice him, though he doubted that was the case. Cloud slunk to the other bed in the room and put his bag down. They quieted, and Cloud wondered if he should leave.  
  
Zack’s warm smile dispelled some of his fears. Some. He scooted and patted the mattress beside him. “Come on: we were forming a game plan.”  
  
Which had what to do with Cloud?  
  
Smiling tentatively back, Cloud walked over and sat beside Zack. To his discomfort, that placed him between Zack and Sephiroth. He resisted the urge to huddle, to make himself as small as possible. Even knowing what lay beyond the mansion, the normality of the setting seemed a world away from the odd comforts of the cave and mountain.  
  
“We were talking about Valentine,” Zack explained. The dark-haired man lounged carelessly on the bed, taking up all the room Sephiroth and Cloud refused to take. Unlike Cloud, who couldn’t help feeling like a child in his all-but-curled-up pose, Sephiroth seemed elegantly compact. Zack seemed to rejoice in the leftover space. “What exactly happened, Cloud? All I know is you guys were talking in the lab, I heard a scream, and you almost hit your head hard enough for a concussion. What did we miss?”  
  
Ah. That explained it.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Cloud began to explain about how he decided to explore the mansion and how that caused him to meet Vincent, deliberately glossing over the bit with the stairs. He continued speaking until he reached the part where he and Vincent began talking. Realization slid casually over him, and Zack sat up as Cloud quieted.  
  
“Cloud?” Zack asked. As if hearing something in Zack’s voice, Sephiroth sat up a little straighter. “Cloud, what is it?”  
  
Not answering immediately, Cloud mentally replayed his and Vincent’s conversation. His brow furrowed. He lightly nibbled his bottom lip. His nose wrinkled.  
  
Yeah. He was pretty sure he was remembering that correctly.  
  
Too aware of his harsh breathing and Zack’s suddenly wary stare, as well as Sephiroth’s concerned one, Cloud hopped off the bed. “Be back,” he said shortly. “Bathroom.”  
  
Sephiroth moved to speak, but Zack hastily shushed him. Cloud was grateful for that: he had embarrassed himself enough in front of them without them witnessing his temper tantrum.  
  
But **_child_**? Who the _hell_ did that _overgrown vampire_ think was a **_child_**?  
  
When Cloud returned seven minutes later, the two men were kind enough (or intelligent enough) not to comment on the plaster in his hair, the mess on his gloves, and his newly calmed state. Zack glanced at Sephiroth once as the young blond sat between them again, but the man was expressionless beyond an odd glint in his eyes. Clearing his throat once, Zack resumed as if nothing had happened.  
  
“So nothing suspicious occurred with Valentine beyond his appearance, his existence, and his fascination with Hojo,” Zack concluded. “If he really is Vincent Valentine, there’s no question why he’s interested in Hojo.”  
  
“Only Hojo could have allowed him to maintain his ageless state,” Sephiroth agreed.  
  
Barely twitching at the mention of either Hojo or Valentine, Cloud self-consciously wrapped his arms around his knees and listened to them. Looking at the pair, one would never realize the destruction that lay beyond the mansion, nor the fact that the two had the ability to call forth tentacles in place of their legs. He hastily pushed away the thought of the tentacles and tightened his grip on his legs. Now wasn’t the time for that.  
  
Zack placed a casual hand on Cloud’s shoulder, squeezing gently. Cloud glanced at him, only for Zack to smile cheekily back. “You know he’s probably going to follow us when we leave tomorrow morning,” Zack stated conversationally.

  
Cloud froze. No, he had not realized that. In fact, he hadn’t even thought about it.  
  
However, the SOLDIERs had. “He’s going to follow Cloud,” Sephiroth corrected, and Cloud shivered minutely as Sephiroth gently brushed a hand against his other shoulder. “Cloud was the one who killed Hojo. Cloud was the one who piqued his interest.”  
  
Sephiroth sounded incredibly matter-of-fact concerning the death of his father and tormentor, as well as the fact a vampiric, supposedly dead Turk was going to be following them around. Cloud swallowed. All right. He could do matter-of-fact, too.  
  
Zack opened his mouth, seemed to hesitate a moment, and then closed his mouth again. Cloud frowned at him, and Zack smiled sheepishly back. “We’ll stick closer together since we don’t know what Valentine wants or what he can do now,” Zack said. He abruptly grinned. “Although I don’t think we’re going to have to worry too much about it.”  
  
Judging by Sephiroth’s minute smile, Cloud decided they were having another one of those conversations again. Cloud looked at them both, momentarily meeting their eyes. They both stared back, a calm intensity lighting their eyes, and Cloud looked away, not sure why his cheeks felt hot.  
  
By some silent agreement, the pair moved onto the next topic: the journey back to Midgar. The truck was still safe just outside of the town, so they had their transportation. They shouldn’t have too much to concern themselves with concerning President ShinRa, but just in case, they had the support of the other SOLDIERs.  
  
The Turks, however, remained a dangerous unknown.  
  
To Cloud’s embarrassment, he began yawning as they began talking about the Turks and their transportation. Zack didn’t miss a beat, using his hand on Cloud’s shoulder to gently pull the blond back against his chest. The heat along his back was only matched by the heat rising in his cheeks.

  
 _This isn’t anything unusual_ , Cloud told himself, resting his head against Zack’s shoulder. Zack squeezed his shoulder once before moving his hand down to Cloud’s elbow. _It’s just Zack_.  
  
Sephiroth’s unperturbed attitude supported the normality of it, and Cloud would have been comforted . . . if he didn’t feel like one of those silent conversations were happening again. The analytical gleam in Sephiroth’s eyes had returned, giving the silent conversation even more weight.  
  
Still . . . Zack was warm and comforting, and there was something oddly relaxing about Sephiroth so calm and secure in front of him. Sighing, Cloud closed his eyes and allowed their conversation to lull him to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

He was not going to get sick.

It was that simple, really, Cloud Strife decided, gaze firmly on the road.  If his hands were a little tight on the wheel, well, that was to be expected considering all the little surprises and unknowns surrounding this trip.  If he was keeping a _really_ sharp eye on the road, it was better to be cautious, right?  If—

“Hey, Spikey!  Look what I can do with my tentacle!”

The truck almost lurched off the battered road.  “Not another word, Zachary!” His stomach lurched right along with the truck, and his voice picked up in pitch.  “Not one!”

If he was a little tense, anyone would be with Zack behind them.

Cloud swallowed thickly—was that bile in the back of his throat no it wasn’t nononono—and fought to steady the truck.  The drive was a simple one, if nothing else.  Unless one had a boat or plane, one would need chocobos to travel over Mount Nibel or risk going on foot under the mountains.  Fortunately—or unfortunately, Cloud was still undecided—they had a plane waiting for them at a small harbor.  While Sephiroth provided too little notice for the large plane that had originally brought them to the dock, he had manage to ‘convince’ some poor officials that it would be in their best interest to have some sort of transportation waiting when they arrived.

Ugh. Sephiroth.

“I’m sorry, General!” Cloud yelped, not daring to look behind him to see Sephiroth’s reaction.  He had looked once, and Zack had spent the next five minutes commenting on how that particular shade of green really brought out his eyes.  “I shouldn’t have yelled.”

“ _General?_ ” Zack squawked, but Cloud was getting used to ignoring him.  Otherwise he would have had to pull over and maim the man already.

“It’s quite all right, Cloud,” Sephiroth murmured, and by Sephiroth’s tone, Cloud had the feeling he agreed with the thought.  “Just concentrate on driving.”

And it was tempting to believe that Sephiroth knew the reason he was concentrating so hard on the road, but why would a man like Sephiroth ever worry about motion sickness?

A tentacle smacked him on the back of the head.  The truck lurched again.

“ _Zachary!  Don’t make me come back there!”_

When Zack was speaking with Sephiroth, it was easier to focus on the road and take his mind off his roiling stomach.  As much as Cloud struggled not to listen—or to any way pay attention to anything inside the truck—several words caught his attention: Turks, Midgar, Valentine.

Cloud bit his lip, eyes staring fixedly on the horizon.  He wasn’t sure which of the topics disturbed him more.  All through his time in Midgar, he had heard horror stories about the Turks and what they could do.  Valentine was almost as disturbing, not so much his former Turk status as the complete _unknown_ surrounding him.  There was no idea what to expect or how to prepare.

As for Midgar . . .

There was a whole different realm of _unknown_ there.

And none of these fears were helping his nausea.

Gulping quietly, Cloud forced his fingers to relax on the wheel.  His hands were beginning to cramp.

The occasional roars of dragons tapered off as they left Nibelheim behind.  Cloud whispered a silent good-bye and glared at the sorry excuse for a road.  He had always hated Nibelheim and had even wanted his mother to move so he would never have a reason to return.

Now he didn’t.

“Hey, Cloud, have you seen any—”

“ _Driving_ , Zackary, and dammit, if you slide one of those tentacles up here _one more time_ —”

“That was one of mine, Cloud.”

“Oh!  I’m sorry.”

“Hey!  What about—”

“ _Shut up, Zack!_ ”

And thus for a moment he forgot about Nibelheim.

xoxoxox

To Cloud’s embarrassment, he needed Zack’s help to not only get out of the truck but to peel his hands off the wheel.  Zack rubbed both of his hands and his lower back with his tentacles, quietly scolding him for not letting anyone else take over the driving.  Several meters away, Sephiroth silently and efficiently set up their camp for the night.

Swallowing, Cloud gently detangled himself from Zack’s grip.  “I’m fine.  Don’t worry, Zack.”  He smiled weakly at Zack, hating how his body had instantly warmed at Zack’s touch.  Stupid body; stupid hormones.  He wished he had never thought of those tentacles like that.  Speaking of tentacles . . . Cloud glanced at Sephiroth and then back at Zack, raising an eyebrow.  “Why do you guys still have your tentacles out?”

Zack glanced at Sephiroth’s and then his own like he had forgotten they were there.  Cloud multitasked by rolling his eyes and stretching his legs at the same time.

The leather tentacles balanced carefully on the rough ground, as if either the ground would hurt them or they would hurt the ground.  The tips resembled snakes in the sparse grass, and that fascinated Cloud more than he liked to admit.  He watched Zack’s face, watching the man’s expression and not the way his tentacles were already waving as if to prove Zack’s unsaid point.

“After this,” Zack explained, waving one tentacle around, “we won’t really have a lot of opportunities to use them.  We’ll have to explain to the other SOLDIERs, of course, but it won’t be a good idea to flash them too often.”  He shrugged, and to Cloud’s fascination, half of the tentacles seemed to shrug, too.  “Might scare some people.”

Cloud barely caught the last point, staring at the tentacles despite his intentions.  “They’re responding more to you now,” he murmured, awed.

Zack blinked and looked down.  The tentacles obediently stilled.  “Do they?”

Nodding, Cloud glanced at Sephiroth.  The small tents were already set up, as was a spot for a fire.  It had only taken the General moments.  “Well, yours do.”  He nodded at Sephiroth.  “His . . .”  He trailed off, embarrassed at studying Sephiroth’s tentacles.

Fortunately, Zack finished the thought.  “His are more controlled.”  Zack glared at his, and they seemed to wilt.  He raised an eyebrow, and one of them twitched before stilling.  “That’s what I thought.”

For some reason, Cloud instantly had the mental image of Zack doing that to another body part, and Zack stared at him like he had grown tentacles too when he doubled over and began laughing.

“Now what did you do, Zack?” Sephiroth inquired, joining the pair.  Cloud choked on his laugh, and Zack ‘helpfully’ pounded him in the back.  If nothing else, that gave Cloud a great view of Sephiroth’s slithering tentacles and he refused to compare his last thought to Sephiroth.  Period.

“I think the stress finally got to him,” Zack admitted, staring at Cloud.  Cloud wheezed helplessly in reply.  Even if he would have told Zack, he wasn’t going to say a word with Sephiroth there.

Only after several careful breaths was Cloud able to straighten again.  “Nothing,” he wheezed.  “It was … just a thought.”  The pair stared at him. Cloud coughed.  “Ah, should I get firewood?”

Zack hesitated, but Sephiroth immediately nodded.  “You could probably use the opportunity to stretch your legs.  Do you have your rifle?”

Cloud jerked a thumb in the direction of the passenger seat, and Sephiroth nodded again.  “Take that with you.  I doubt we will have to fear anything like dragons, but there are probably still monsters in this area.”

Cloud resisted the urge to salute.  “I’ll be careful.”

When would he have to start saying ‘sir’ again?  Or ‘General Sephiroth’?  Turning back to the truck and reaching through the still open driver’s side door, Cloud thought about it.  Probably when they met up with more soldiers.  And after that . . .

Well.  They had to go back to the status quo at some point, tentacles or no tentacles.  That thought didn’t bother Cloud as much as he thought it would.

Of course, he had been trying to drill it into his head since their last night in Nibelheim.  It didn’t feel ‘drilled in’, though.  It felt more like he had grown numb to it.

Grasping his rifle, he tossed it over his shoulder and slid back out of the truck.  Zack was frowning at Sephiroth, but the older man looked unperturbed.  Sephiroth even smiled a little at Cloud.  “We’ll set up the inside of the tents while you’re gone.  Don’t be long.”

There was something disturbingly domestic about that phrase, and Cloud couldn’t resist grinning back at the man.  It wasn’t like there were dragons around or anything.  What was the worst that could happen?

When Cloud walked away from the campsite, Zack was still frowning.

Holding his rifle casually at his side, Cloud tried to figure out _why_ Zack had been frowning.  He scanned the scenery.  The mountains of Nibel had leveled off, leaving only brush and dust and the occasional boulder.  Nibel’s fiercer monsters rarely left the mountains, although admittedly the monster situation had been growing worse everywhere lately.

Cloud paused and looked around.  Growing curious, he looked down.  A frown growing on his face, he cocked his head and listened.

Licking his lips, his heartbeat speeding up just the slightest bit, he walked further from the camp.  His finger rested beside the trigger of his gun. 

While he had spent the last couple years in Midgar, he had lived his entire life up to that point surrounded by wilderness.  Stopping a decent distance from the camp, Cloud listened intently again.

If he had learned nothing in that period of time, he learned that silence was never a good thing in the wilderness.

Cloud swallowed, glancing at the ground again.  There were tracks, mostly paws and what looked like giant bird trails.  They were _recent_.  He would bet his . . . well, if he had something to bet, he would bet!  But surely their truck wouldn’t have been enough to scare _all_ of the animals away.  There would be at least some curious ones, some apathetic ones.  So what had happened?

Something else had scared them away, of course.

Exhaling quietly, Cloud lowered his gun.  “Mr. Valentine?” he called out softly.  “Are you there?”

There wasn’t even a rustle behind him.  Cloud turned because the closest boulder was behind him, and as he expected, Vincent Valentine stepped out from behind it.  With a soft sigh, Cloud put his gun back over his shoulder.  “What are you doing here?”

Valentine stared at him with the glowing red eyes, but Cloud wasn’t scared. 

He was _interested_ in him, Zack said.  Cloud still didn’t know why, but unless you were Hojo, you didn’t kill something you were interested in.

If you were Hojo, you killed them and dissected them and how long had this man known Hojo, anyway?

“Vincent,” the man corrected.  Cloud blinked at him.

“Huh?”  Cloud inwardly winced.  Yeah, _why_ was this man interested in him again?

Valentine stepped closer, and to Cloud’s fascination, he didn’t leave a single footprint in the dirt.  Maybe it had something to do with the odd shoes.  Or maybe he really was an ex-Turk.  Even the animals with their soft steps and padded paws left tracks.

“You may call me Vincent.”  _Vincent_ , Cloud mouthed, even as the man looked him over.  “You are looking for firewood, correct?”

Cloud nodded, wondering how close the man had been to the camp to know that.  Or perhaps he had enhanced hearing.  Or maybe it was just common sense.  Stopping for the night generally equaled a need for heat and did it really matter?

Cloud glanced around again at the empty landscape, frowning.  “Dinner, too.”  If the words were a little pointed, well, there was only one reason there wasn’t any animal life around.

Vincent nodded, as if he had expected both.  Cloud refused to think about it.  He gestured silently behind the boulder, and glancing once at the vampiric man—could Hojo make vampires?—Cloud stepped closer and looked.

A nice pile of firewood and a carcass that looked like it once was a bird.

Confused, Cloud looked back at Vincent, meeting opaque crimson eyes.  “Why?” he managed.  _Why are you following?  Why did you scare away the animals?  Why are you_ doing this?

Instead of answering Cloud’s vague question, Vincent looked back in the direction of the campsite.  “You should hurry,” Vincent said mildly.  “Your friend is worrying about you.”

_Zack_.  Cloud bit his lip, looking at the man again.  Vincent had stepped backwards, and Cloud believed that if he blinked, the man would vanish. 

“Thank you . . . Vincent.”

Those crimson eyes widened just the slightest bit, and Cloud offered him a quick smile before turning to the small pile.  Vincent was right.  He had to hurry.  Zack wouldn’t just search for him, he would search for him with every bit of materia he had ready to explode things.  Cloud cringed.  Again.

“You’re welcome, Cloud.”

Cloud glanced behind him, and as expected, Vincent was gone.  He sighed and turned back to the pile. 

After this, he was definitely hanging out with his fellow troopers more.  If nothing else, they seemed delightfully _normal_ compared to SOLDIERs with tentacles and vampiric ex-Turks.

A little later, Cloud corrected himself: one SOLDIER with tentacles and one SOLDIER with tentacles and a mother hen complex.

“You took a while,” Zack commented, meeting Cloud as soon as he stepped onto the campsite.  He snatched the pile from Cloud’s arms, stared intently at the bird corpse, and then studied Cloud’s now open form.  “Did you encounter any problems?”

So asked he with the tentacles playing in the nearby thorns.  Cloud rolled his eyes and carefully stepped over one over-eager limb.  “I’m fine.  I wasn’t even gone long.”

Zack stared doubtfully at the blood-covered sticks.  It was between Cloud being covered in blood and the sticks: Cloud preferred messy firewood.

“Where’s Sephiroth?” Cloud asked, cutting off Zack’s inevitable stupid question of _Is any of this blood yours?_

Zack blinked, his train of thought obviously derailed.  “Ah, busy.”

Cloud frowned and almost asked for clarification, but then he thought about it for a split-second and blushed.  “Oh.”  He coughed and looked at the campsite.  “Should we start the fire then?”

Later, Cloud stared at the top of his tent and tried to sleep.  Everything was completely silent around him.  Zack and Sephiroth were in their own tents, the fire burning lowly before Cloud’s tent.  He could see the light of the fire soft and warm through his tent wall, but he couldn’t hear it.  He couldn’t hear the pair breathing—not too surprising—but he couldn’t hear anything else, either, and it was amazing how it was that _silence_ that was keeping him awake.

_Are you still out there, Vincent?_ Cloud wondered, eyes beginning to hurt.  He blinked, but the simple act of staring into the darkness was beginning to strain them.  _Is that why the animals are still gone?_

And that thought wasn’t helping Cloud sleep in the slightest.

Oh, wait, there was a noise.  Cloud sighed and pulled his rough little blanket tighter around him.  Zack apparently hadn’t put his tentacles away yet.

Two more days and they would reach the dock.  From there, Zack would take over, and that thought _definitely_ wasn’t helping Cloud sleep.

Swallowing thickly, Cloud heard Zack’s tentacle slap against his tent and remembered them moving earlier.  Remembered Zack’s and Sephiroth’s tentacles moving around the camp as they ate their dinner and rested around the campfire.  Remembered the expressiveness of Zack’s and the elegance of Sephiroth’s.

He licked his lips.  _That_ would help him sleep, if he allowed himself to do it.  Just sneak his hand down . . .

And not wonder about SOLDIER hearing.

Cloud whimpered and resumed staring at the ceiling of the tent, eye strain negligible.  All right, this was getting ridiculous.  It was just silence, after all. 

“Hey, Cloud, you still awake?”

Like he hadn’t known it.  Cloud sighed and rolled to face Zack’s tent, uncaring that two tent walls separated them.  “Yeah.  Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

“Well,” Zack chirped cheerfully, sounding as awake as Cloud, “I was, but then I got reminded of something.  Or maybe there’s a feather in my throat that I can’t get out.”  Cloud twitched.  He thought he heard Sephiroth cough in his tent beside Cloud’s.  “Anyway, last time we had to camp out like this, we didn’t have a truck.  Nope!  We had chocobos.  And someone had this bright idea to tie the chocobos to the tent poles, hoping that would keep them from leaving during the night.  I don’t why since they were _military-trained_ chocobos, but hey, I wasn’t in charge of that mission.”  Now Cloud _knew_ he heard Sephiroth cough.  “So anyway, they tie up the chocobos to the tent poles and by Bahamut, military-trained does _not_ mean they have to stay in one position all night.  Especially when those wolves went by and we just keep coming back to wolves, don’t we?  Though these wolves weren’t anywhere near the size of Nibel wolves, but they did have an odd glow Nibel wolves didn’t have—”

Cloud never heard the ending of the story.  He fell asleep amidst Zack’s description of the wolves.

xoxoxox

After finishing the rest of the bird and watching Zack demonstrate several modified dance steps (Cloud hadn’t been wondering if that could be done with tentacles . . . really), the trio cleaned up the area and left.  Cloud imagined once he saw Vincent’s cape flutter, only to see a bird fly through the brush.  With that, Cloud knew the man (was Vincent a man?) was gone.

For the next two days, Cloud imagined he saw flashes of the man but knew it was his mind playing tricks on him.  He was expecting to see Vincent, so he saw him in every flash of a bird’s wing, every twist of an animal’s tail.  Never before had he been singled out, and now that he had, it was driving him insane.  He had expected it to be a good sensation but so far it only proved to be frustrating.

However, it also proved to be a good distraction.  After a while, he couldn’t tell if it was Zack’s or Sephiroth’s tentacle gently touching his hair and the back of his neck, and the smooth feel of it flustered him.  He wasn’t even sure if the pair was aware of it, every touch evanescent and almost absent-minded.

Like he never heard any sign that the pair was aware of these gentle touches, he neither heard any indication that they knew how close Vincent had been to the campsite.  The pair focused on talking about plans, or Zack happily regaled them with stories.  If it were anyone else telling those stories, Cloud would have called him/her a liar.  Unfortunately, he had been a participant in some of these stories.

They arrived at the dock on the evening of the second day.  Zack jumped out of the back and hurried to the driver’s door before anyone else could move.  Cloud scowled at him but allowed Zack to discreetly massage his sore hands.

_He put away his tentacles_ , Cloud noted, valiantly attempting to suppress the rush of disappointment he felt at the thought.  Looking at Zack, properly attired with even his boots miraculously cleaned, one would never guess that he had been smacking Cloud with a tentacle only hours before.

Of course, if they knew Zack, they wouldn’t be surprised.

A flash of silver caught Cloud’s eye.  He looked up even as Zack helped him off the seat.  Sephiroth strode away from the truck and them without looking back.  Cloud stared at his elegant form for a moment before looking up to see their destination.

“What a piece of shit.”

Cloud didn’t realize he had spoken aloud until Zack chuckled.  “Yeah,” Zack agreed, glancing over his shoulder.  Cloud flushed when he realized Zack was still holding his hand.  “Even with the short amount of warning, they should have had something better ready and waiting for us.”  Zack turned back to Cloud, smiling grimly.  “The higher-ups weren’t expecting us back.”

Cloud swallowed and focused on the dock.  The dock itself was a pitiful excuse for a military dock anyway.  Specialist Eliot had bitched about it to Cloud when they had originally arrived, trying to take the blond’s mind off his nausea.  Cloud had a sinking suspicion why this dock was so crummy with—Cloud quickly glanced around—so few guards.  He also shared Zack’s suspicions as to why they had been supplied such a good plane on the way here and this shitty, small plane on the way back.

The only thing the dock was good for was access to Nibelheim.  Nibelheim, which held Jenova and Hojo’s lab. 

Looking at the plane, Cloud bit back a whimper.  Regardless of the dock’s true intentions, there were more important things to worry about at the moment.  “You really can fly that plane?”

Zack’s grin did nothing to comfort him.  “Of course.”

Zack finally released Cloud’s hand, and the blond steadied himself and closed the truck door.  He followed Zack to the dock, and he decided it was incredibly ironic to live through Nibelheim and die because of his friend.  Fitting, though.  He was sure that his colleagues back at ShinRa would even oblige to put it on his death certificate: “Cause of death: Zack.”  There would be no need for a follow-up investigation.

On the dock beside the plane, Sephiroth had cornered the poor sergeant who had piloted the aircraft.  Trembling and white, the man held his regulation salute like it was a shield against Sephiroth’s icy, quiet fury.  “This was the best ShinRa could do?” the General was asking him quietly, and the man grew shakier with each word. 

Unperturbed by Sephiroth’s intensity, Zack stepped to Sephiroth’s shoulder, but Cloud hung back, spine straight and hand ready to salute.  Lowly specialist once more.

The sergeant began babbling about ‘short notice,’ but his voice quickly trailed away as Sephiroth simply stared at him.  Fidgeting, the man held his salute, his mouth still moving but no words coming out.

“We should get moving, General,” Zack murmured, and Cloud wondered how often Zack actually used the man’s title.  He rarely heard Zack use it but, then again, he rarely accompanied both of them on a mission.

Sephiroth nodded.  He stared coldly at the sergeant for one last moment before walking to the plane.

Reminding himself that he was supposed to be a dutiful specialist, Cloud bravely followed Zack and Sephiroth onto the plane.  If he was lucky, the motion sickness would distract him from the fact that Zack was flying.

xoxoxox

Nope.  He was aware of his nausea and Zack piloting.  Cloud missed his helmet.  He missed driving.  He missed anything that kept Sephiroth from seeing him be motion-sick.

Focusing on his breathing, Cloud clenched his fists on his lap and stared at the passing clouds.  He was expecting Zack to make some comment about it, but so far, Zack’s running commentary mostly consisted of bitching about the plane . . . which did nothing to soothe Cloud.

Neither did the fact that Zack’s commentary was the only noise besides the motor.  Sephiroth sat still and silent in the plane’s other seat, pale face a mask.  At that moment, he wasn’t the man with whom Cloud had traversed the past week.  He was the General, stoic and cold, and Cloud felt more like a pathetic specialist than a person.

“Can you hear that clanking?  That is not a healthy clanking.  Why did they give us a plane with an unhealthy clanking?”

Zack wasn’t helping.  Zack wasn’t helping at all!

Cloud exhaled slowly, making sure the inhale was just as slow as the breath out.  It required great deliberation, otherwise it would have been an anxious pant.  His stomach wouldn’t stop roiling, crashing about like a boat on rough seas, and now wasn’t the time to think about such metaphors.

“I prefer boats over shitty planes like this.  You get more of a view.  All you see now are clouds—”

Ah, here it comes.

“Endless white, fluffy clouds and why aren’t _you_ that fluffy, Cloud?  I mean, your hair looks so sharp—”

If it wasn’t for the fact that Cloud feared crashing as it was, he would have thrown something at the man.

And, Cloud admitted to himself with a mental grimace, he didn’t think he could move that much without vomiting.

“Zackary,” Sephiroth interrupted evenly, “enough.”

The same _something_ that silenced Zack made Cloud look up at Sephiroth.  However, even when his head stopped moving, nothing else did, and Cloud barely bit back a whimper.  He really wanted his helmet back.

Sephiroth didn’t look back at Cloud, never moved his gaze even when Zack cleared his throat and resumed speaking.  The man remained still and silent.

All but his legs.  To Cloud’s concern, he thought he saw them twitch.  He opened his mouth to make a comment—

“See!  That’s what I meant about clanking!”

And then Cloud was too busy trying not to be sick to do anything else.

xoxoxox

For once, Cloud was grateful for his inferior status: it allowed him to hang back when Zack and Sephiroth exited the small plane.  He took several deep, steadying breaths before following them.  His rank also allowed him to bow his head and hide his pale face.

Their destination appeared far more formal than their place of departure.  Awe raised Cloud’s eyes again at the realization that he was in _Wutai_.  It reminded him of the feeling when he first arrived in Midgar, the colorful buildings and intricate designs as foreign as Midgar’s vivid lights and spiraling buildings.

It also contained the cold, hard members of ShinRa and the feeling of oppression that led to dark, wild eyes.

Sweeping his gaze around the area once, seeing the bowed heads of the Wutains and the icy eyes of the officials walking towards them, Cloud lowered his eyes once more.

 “General,” the one in the lead—one whose booming voice and greedy gaze reminded Cloud depressingly of Palmer—spoke.  “President ShinRa—”

Standing behind Sephiroth, Cloud couldn’t see the look the leader received that so quickly silenced him, but it cheered Cloud, nonetheless.  Zack stood straight and still at Sephiroth’s side, and Cloud knew his gaze was probably just as unyielding as Sephiroth’s.  Zack could never stand corporate dogs, and the men’s fine suits, especially in contrast to the air of subjugation around them, clearly showed these men for what they were.

“My men and I are tired,” Sephiroth said coldly.  He didn’t bother with the dignity of names or titles, and Cloud could see the leader flush.  “Unless the president left a message of dire importance, it can wait until morning.  Until then, the plane is to be fueled and we will rest.  I believe appropriate accommodations have been made for Colonel Fair, Sergeant Strife, and myself.”

Cloud froze at the mention of his rank.  Neither Zack nor Sephiroth twitched, though the leader shifted uncomfortably, and the two suited men behind him exchanged glances.  Cloud knew what they were thinking: _You left with the colonel and_ two specialists _._ Only sheer will kept Cloud’s expression blank.

“General,” the leader began, visibly bolstering himself, but Sephiroth was already brushing past him.  The other two quickly stepped to one side, and Sephiroth didn’t even look at them.  Zack fell into step behind Sephiroth, and Cloud quickly hurried to follow them.

_Sergeant Strife . . . Sergeant Strife . . ._

Cloud dimly hoped his shock wasn’t too visible.

Few planes rested in the humble airport, two appearing to be private jets while the rest were clearly military.  The few natives Cloud saw stared at both types with equal disdain, and Cloud wondered dismally how the Wutains saw _them_ and how Zack and Sephiroth felt about it.  After all, both had fought in this land, fought against these people.

And Sephiroth had been the one who had ultimately defeated them.

Wishing he still had Zack’s Buster Sword, Cloud edged closer to the pair, his shoulders going a little straighter.

Two tall men stepped out from behind one of the fighter planes.  Cloud’s hand automatically went to his rifle until he noticed their glowing eyes.  _SOLDIERS_ , he realized, the first he had seen beyond Sephiroth and Zack since leaving Midgar.  Were they the help the pair had requested?

Judging by the sudden bounce in Zack’s step, they were.  “Hey, guys!” he greeted, waving.  One of them, a muscled brunet, relaxed with a smile.  The only relaxation evident in the other one was the sudden give of his broad shoulders.

Now it was Sephiroth’s turn to follow Zack as Zack jogged up to the pair.  Sighing, Cloud dutifully followed.

“Captain Stromm, Lt. Colonel Beregrin,” Zack introduced, gesturing first at the brunet and then his large companion, “this is Sergeant Cloud Strife, otherwise known as Sephiroth’s new shadow.”

_Wha . . .?_

Utterly gobsmacked, Cloud only shook Captain Stromm’s hand out of habit alone, only aware enough to note the mischievous glitter in Zack’s eyes.  The hand wrapped around his own was gentle, the man obviously aware of his great strength.  Lt. Colonel Beregrin only nodded.  Neither looked surprised at the introduction.

“Sergeant,” Stromm greeted, his voice a mellow bass.  Cloud dazedly nodded, and before the blond could become embarrassed at his own lack of formality, Stromm turned to Sephiroth.  “General.  The SOLDIERs in Midgar have been told of the situation and are preparing for your arrival.”

Beregrin glanced at Cloud for a moment, nodded again with an odd softness in his pale eyes, and picked up where Stromm left off.  “There have been no Turk sightings outside of Midgar, but Vice-President Rufus has been growing restless.”

Cloud frowned at the tense undercurrents in the latter sentence, not understanding.  Zack caught his eye and smiled briefly; Cloud nodded.  Zack would explain later.

With that in mind, Cloud allowed himself to tune out the SOLDIERs’ conversation.  Leaning against the military plane, Cloud looked around.  In the distance, he could see ShinRa technicians milling about, one or two talking with Wutains.  Beyond the landing site, he could see Wutains walking on winding paths.  There were no sign of the officials, and no one seemed to be looking their way.  Cloud relaxed a little, his shoulders slumping minutely.  With all of this tension, he had not even noticed that the final remnants of his nausea were gone.

He also didn’t notice dozing off until Zack shook his shoulder.  The two other SOLDIERs were gone.  “C’mon,” Zack urged.  “We still have time before we have to check into the hotel.  You needed to see the marketplace.”

Cloud perked up, curiosity pushing wariness to one side.  The part of him that was still a countryboy glowed at the prospect.  “All right.”

Cloud turned to smile at Sephiroth, but the older man was staring at the intricate shrines in the distance, feline eyes blank.

xoxoxox

“No, Zack.”

“But—”

“No.”

“What about the—”

“No.”

“Ser—”

“No.”

Cloud had long since tuned out Zack’s pleading, enraptured by the scene around him.  Wutains in various styles of dress—ranging from what he might see in Midgar to elegant garments Zack called kimonos—bustled about busy stalls, the quiet conversations and bargaining contrasting with some stall keepers’ shouts concerning their wares.  Fish and other seafood were invitingly displayed, although Cloud worried about the sparkle in Zack’s eyes when he pointed out various items he should try. Spices he did and didn’t recognize were available in bottles and baskets.  Serpent designs were prominently featured, and Cloud had to constantly stop himself from heading towards items he knew his mother would have loved.  The excitement and brightness of the market was even almost enough to distract him from guards posted at every corner.

“But wh—”

“No.”

“—at—”

“No.”

“But—”

“No.”

Every now and then, Cloud wondered why Zack didn’t just go and buy whatever object he was ogling, but a flip of a fan or a flash of a blade would distract him. A stall with blankly staring fish – some as big as his arm – distracted him with both sight and smell. It was hard just focusing enough not to lose Sephiroth and Zack.

Of course, Sephiroth was taller than almost everyone there.  That helped.

And Zack’s wild gesturing helped, too.  As did the dirty looks that followed in Zack’s wake.

Cloud saw a necklace that would have matched his mother’s eyes and turned his attention to a scroll with a picture of a serpent rising from the ocean.  After a moment, he decided that it would look out of place in the barracks and kept looking. There were spices his mother would have loved but only made him sneeze and what would he do with them, anyway?

“Sephiroth.”

“No—Zack?”

“There.”

“...Oh.”

When the wild gesturing stopped, Cloud discovered it _was_ almost possible to lose the pair, Sephiroth’s distinctive height notwithstanding.  Exasperated at his own shortness, he looked around.  Frowning, he spotted the pair paused at a stall he had already passed.  He whispered apologies to those around him as he darted to their side.

Swords.  Cloud bit back a sigh as he stepped beside Zack.  Of course, Zack would finally get his way when swords were involved.  Watching the pair examine a buster sword reminiscent of Zack’s—except unmarred with scars and battle wounds—Cloud comforted himself with the fact that at least Sephiroth wouldn’t let Zack near anything _too_ dangerous.  Swords, oddly enough, were comparatively safe.

And this one was definitely a beautiful sword.

He allowed himself to eye it for a moment before jerking his gaze away, eyes sweeping over the marketplace.  Several Wutains were watching them, but to Cloud’s surprise, no resentment shone in their eyes nor on their faces when they observed the General.  He made a mental note to ask Zack about that later.

 “Hey, Cloud.”  Cloud looked away from his perusal of the marketplace to meet Zack’s dancing eyes.  He couldn’t help swallowing.  When Zack smiled like _that_ and held a blade in his hands, he remembered why Zack was only _comparatively_ safe with a sword.  “Hold this for a second, would you?”

Cloud wanted to ask Zack why he couldn’t just put the sword down or give it back if he wanted to look at another one, but Sephiroth stood behind Zack, green eyes solemn, and Cloud felt too nervous around the General to risk making a public scene.  Whatever camaraderie they may have shared had seemingly died the moment they stepped onto that rickety plane, and Cloud didn’t want to risk upsetting him now.  Resisting the urge to bite his lip, Cloud reached out and grabbed the sword from Zack.

It was lighter than Zack’s Buster sword, the metal finer in quality.  Cloud couldn’t resist eyeing its sharp edges, enjoying the weight and balance of it.

Only SOLDIERs were trusted enough to carry swords in battle, but maybe with a sergeant’s salary, he could afford to buy himself one, just for practice.  He smiled wistfully to himself at the thought.  That would be nice.

“So, Seph.”  Cloud looked up again to see those sparkling eyes still on him.  His nervousness increased.  Zack grinned.  “What do you think?”

Huh?  Cloud finally actually _looked_ at Sephiroth, meeting those brilliant eyes.  His cheeks warmed immediately, but when Sephiroth caught his gaze and held it, Cloud refused to look away.  He tightened his grip on the handle, feeling the grooves through his gloves.

After a long moment, Sephiroth nodded.  “Perfect,” he murmured, and Cloud blinked, breaking the momentary spell.  He looked back and forth between the pair in confusion.

His confusion only increased when Zack turned to the shopkeeper with a wide grin.  “We’ll take it!”

_What?_

“What?” he blurted out, then almost dropped his precious cargo when he tried to clamp a hand over his mouth.  Sephiroth’s mouth quirked faintly, and Zack flashed his bright grin at Cloud again. 

“If you’re going to be Sephiroth’s new shadow,” he explained cheerfully, “you need to be properly equipped.  A rifle is only good for troopers!”

Cloud considered pointing out to Zack that he was a trooper.  Cloud considered pointing out to Zack that only SOLDIERs were allowed to fight with swords.  Cloud considered bringing up to Zack that he had yet to hear Sephiroth agree to this whole ‘shadow’ business.

Instead, Cloud sighed and said, “Zack, you’re leaning against the display knives.”

As Zack yelped and jumped away, Cloud discreetly held his new prize close and Sephiroth calmly paid the stallkeeper.

With his new prize in hand, Cloud no longer had as much reason to look around, content with his current possession.  Without his eye wandering as much, he was able to watch his companions more, and he frowned to himself at what he saw.

Zack fidgeting was nothing extraordinary.  In fact, Zack being _still_ was when one should be alarmed and searching for the nearest bomb shelter.  However, Sephiroth was restless, too, revealing himself through barely perceivable signs.  Cloud protectively tightened his grip on the Buster’s handle, watching Sephiroth’s long hair ripple with each tiny toss of Sephiroth’s head.  He looked around again, trying to see what disturbed the pair so.

Turks? Cloud wondered, looking through the throng of people.  The ShinRa guards?  Perhaps they had sighted the officials from earlier, but Cloud doubted they would ‘lower’ themselves as to come to a public market.

Then Cloud walked past one particular stall, line from top to bottom with spices, and his eyes widened.

Oh.

He hurried his steps so he could walk beside Zack.  “How far is the hotel from here?” he inquired.  The scent of spices and fresh fish were strong for even _him_.  How much worse was it for SOLDIER senses?  He should have considered it sooner.

The pair immediately stopped at his question.  “Not far,” Zack answered, eyes sweeping over Cloud.  Around them, people carefully stepped to one side, taking care not to touch any member of the trio.  Cloud wasn’t sure if it was politeness or the size of three large swords that did the trick.  “Do you need some rest?”

Any other time, Cloud would have answered with a vehement ‘no.’ Eyeing Sephiroth’s too tense form and Zack’s slightly strained smile, he answered quietly, “I could use some, yes.”

Phrased like that, Cloud hoped he kept some of his pride.  Regardless, he stared at Zack’s shoulder until he got a response.

Fifteen minutes later, bundled into an elegant Wutain hotel, Cloud wondered what would have happened if he had answered with a fervent “Yes!”

“It just looks like a mat on the floor, but it’s actually rather comfy,” Zack was reassuring Cloud, and Cloud batted him away, along with the blanket he held in his arms.  “People here sleep on them all the time.  They’re even starting to catch on in Midgar.”

Having already told Zack that he had seen futons before, Cloud didn’t bother trying to tell the brunet again.  Instead, he hummed and kept an eye out for Sephiroth.  The older man was still registering them at the front desk, despite Cloud’s protest that he could have done it for them.  Sephiroth looked like he needed the rest far more than Cloud did, the SOLDIER’s mouth too tight and eyes too sharp.  However, neither of the SOLDIERs would hear of it.  Cloud decided then not to try to use “I’m tired” method again.  It was too hard to convince them to let him help afterwards.

It was also hard on his pride, too.

Zack followed Cloud’s gaze to the door.  Cloud started when Zack rested a hand on his shoulder.

“I still have a couple things to do, all right,” Zack murmured.  Cloud looked away from the door and frowned at him, concerned by the sudden softness of his voice.  “I’m going to make sure Sephiroth stays here with you.  Watch over him for me, okay?”

Cloud sat straight up on the futon, eyes wide.  Zack took advantage of his distraction to slip the blanket around his shoulders.  Cloud decided not to comment on it.  There were more important things to worry about now.

“Zack,” he began, but Zack shook his head.  Cloud glanced at the door again and nodded solemnly.  Couldn’t let Sephiroth hear.

Zack settled the blanket more firmly around Cloud’s shoulders, and only Cloud’s glare kept him from pushing Cloud back against the pillows (he really didn’t need that many).  “Just make sure he doesn’t wander off, all right?” Zack continued, barely a breath of sound.  “Wutai makes him edgy.”

Cloud only had time for a solemn nod before the screen door slid open.  Zack clapped Cloud once on the shoulder before straightening, smiling at Sephiroth as the man strode into the room.  Cloud smiled, too, but his eyes were fervently taking the man in, noting every tense muscle and every stressed line.  He recalled how strained Sephiroth had appeared on the ride here.  Was it simply just coming to this place?

Cloud’s shoulders determinedly straightened.

Sephiroth paused in front of them, taking a moment to warily eye the pair.  It oddly reminded Cloud of some of the Nibelheim hares watching the wolves, but then Sephiroth was focusing on Zack.  “We’re only booked for the night.  We leave first thing in the morning.”

Zack grinned merrily, and something in it made Sephiroth tense even more.  “Good!” he said cheerfully.  “That gives me time to tie up some loose ends.”

Sephiroth nodded and opened his mouth to speak.  Zack stepped to his side and whispered something.  The pair glanced at Cloud, and Cloud blinked back.  Then Sephiroth nodded, and it was Zack’s opportunity to clap _his_ shoulder.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, kids!” Zack called, and then he was gone.  Leaving Cloud and Sephiroth alone.

Suddenly, Cloud realized he didn’t have the slightest clue how he was supposed to keep an eye on Sephiroth.  He made a mental note to kick Zack later.

He smiled tentatively at Sephiroth, who stared guardedly back.  If there was a later.

Cloud looked around the hotel room, looking for inspiration.  A part of Cloud was darkly amused that he could relate with this man more in a cave than he could back in civilization.  And this place _was_ civilized, very elegant and beautiful, and Cloud wondered if Sephiroth longed for that cave as much as he did.  He couldn’t tell: Sephiroth’s face was a mask.

Then Sephiroth graciously gave him something with which he could work.

“Are you still tired?” he asked, stepping closer to Cloud’s futon.  To Cloud’s relief, Sephiroth’s eyes had softened a little bit.

Inspired, Cloud tucked the blanket a little more around him.  “A little,” he replied, and he _was_ , truly, so he didn’t have to feel guilty about lying when Sephiroth frowned with concern. 

Sephiroth gracefully kneeled beside Cloud’s futon.  Cloud struggled to build up the nerve for the next step.  “You should have said you were getting tired,” Sephiroth told him, his tone an odd mixture of scolding and resignation.  “You are not yet a SOLDIER.”

Cloud wanted to thank Sephiroth for his politeness—only he and Zack would have added the ‘yet’—but he feared that would take the conversation too far off track.  He wanted to help Sephiroth relax and quickly.  He could see the slight tremor in Sephiroth’s legs and knew the hotel room was too public for . . . that. 

High emotion made it difficult for Sephiroth and Zack to control them, Cloud remembered.  Was this place truly making Sephiroth so high-strung?

“I was okay,” Cloud reassured him—another truth—and smiled.  _You fought here, fought these people under ShinRa orders.  You must have had as little control as you did under that creature in Nibelheim._ Cloud had to look down so Sephiroth wouldn’t see the sudden fire in his eyes.  _I want to_ hurt _them_.

But he couldn’t hurt them.  The most he could do was try to protect Sephiroth in the future.  The thought made him ache.

Even without Cloud looking at him, Cloud must have done something to reveal his sudden change in mood.  Sephiroth moved closer.  “Are you all right?”

And right now rather than helping him, he was just stressing Sephiroth more.  But, Cloud reminded himself, it was for the greater good.

“Yeah,” Cloud assured him, the smiles coming easier.  It felt like they were sliding a bit more into the camaraderie from the cave, so much so that Cloud was tempted to look for a roasting wolf.  It made it easier to relax, which would help with the next phase of his plan.  “Just really tired.”

Sephiroth frowned and began moving backwards, and Cloud’s smile faded, watching his plan unraveling.  “Then I will leave you to sleep.  You must rest.”

No!  Bad!  Before Cloud could stop himself, he reached out and clasped Sephiroth’s wrist.  It took all of his willpower not to snatch his hand back, and Sephiroth’s surprised look did not help.

“Please don’t leave yet,” he heard himself ask quietly.  Cloud opened his mouth to give some excuse, any excuse, but none escaped his lips.  It occurred to him that there was a reason he was still a grunt in the military rather than a strategist or diplomat.  He pulled his hand back and stared at the futon, mind racing.  He wished Zack was still here; he would know what to do.

Thankfully, Sephiroth helped again.  “It is a different place, isn’t it?” he murmured.  Sephiroth settled beside Cloud on the futon.  To Cloud’s relief, the man seemed more relaxed, even as his green eyes seemed more distant.  “So different from Midgar.”

But if ShinRa had its way, not for long.  Cloud’s smile was genuinely sympathetic when he looked up at Sephiroth.  “Yeah,” he agreed.  Like Nibelheim had been before the reactor had come, when traditions were still alive and the old ways meant something.

Of course, Cloud didn’t regret _all_ of those traditions dying as they had.  Good riddance to some of them.

“I bet this place has many stories,” Cloud said softly, thinking of some of Nibelheim’s legends.

Sephiroth nodded.  “Very beautiful stories,” he agreed.  “Even more beautiful in their original tongue.”

For some reason, it didn’t surprise Cloud that Sephiroth knew Wutain.  He smiled wistfully, imagining how they must sound.  _Beautiful_ , Sephiroth had said.  For Sephiroth to say that, they must be beautiful, indeed.

Sephiroth’s next words surprised Cloud.  “I could tell you some,” he offered.  He wasn’t looking at Cloud, instead examining an ornate vase on the other side of the room.  “If you wish it.  To help you sleep.”

Cloud couldn’t stop smiling.  “Please.”

He didn’t know when he had drifted off, only knew that the pillows were far more comfy than he had originally thought they would be.  They were warm and smelled nice, and as he contently drifted off, he heard Sephiroth ask quietly, “Do you blame me?”

He heard himself answer, “Why would I?”  Then he only heard the faint sound of Sephiroth’s breathing.

Neither heard Zack enter the room that night.  A little dustier, a little dirtier, he stood over the futon and watched them sleep.  Neither was awake to read his eyes or his expression as he wrapped another blanket around them both, making sure to catch all of the limp tentacles wrapped around Cloud’s legs.  No one was awake when he propped his Buster sword by his own futon and sat on his own blanket, glowing eyes open and staring in the dark.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only posted the first part of this chapter the first time around. Oops?

Chapter V

Cloud Strife stared at his new blade like he couldn't look away.  In some ways, that was true.  If he looked to his left, he would see Sephiroth, and that was not an option at the moment.  If he looked to his right, he would see the clouds swirling in what looked like the beginning of a bad storm.  If he looked in front of him, he would see Zack's flailing tentacles, and there was already too much motion going on for his roiling stomach.  
  
Besides, it was a beautiful sword.  
  
One of Zack's tentacles smacked the roof of the plane, and Cloud cringed.  Zack happily chattered about how nice it was to fly a plane with them, and Cloud consoled himself that at least he wasn't talking about the plane's clunking noises anymore.  He wasn't sure if he could refrain from crying if Zack did.  The atmosphere in the plane was tense enough without mentioning that their plane was a flying deathtrap.  
  
Perhaps the tension would alleviate if Zack would glance at them at least once while he was chatting.  
  
Cloud stroked the sword hilt like he would a pet.  To his dismay, he wished Zack had a reason to complain about the engines.  While they still made alarming noises, they weren't as loud as before, thus not drowning out the occasional cracks of thunder.  Every complaint Zack had made on the way to Wutai echoed ominously in his mind.  
  
"Cloud?"  Sephiroth's soft voice broke him from his reverie.  For the first time since liftoff, Cloud looked up from his new sword.  He had yet to name it but no name seemed to fit.  "Are you all right?"  
  
Cloud smiled weakly, wondering if he looked as wan as he felt.  "I'm fine.”  _I'm not some child who's scared by lightning storms!_  
  
Sometimes, Cloud couldn't help but wonder what SOLDIER's eyes saw.  Then he looked forward and saw how Zack was frowning fiercely at the darkening sky.  He changed his mind.  
  
When Cloud glanced back at Sephiroth, the man was frowning at Zack.  It was almost like Sephiroth had only just noticed his companions and their agitated states.  "Zack?" he began, moving to stand.  
  
"Protect Cloud!" Zack snapped. Cloud flinched.  "Things may get a little rough."  
  
Sephiroth didn't seem surprised nor offended at Zack's tone.  Instead, he quickly moved over to Cloud.  Cloud clutched at the hilt of his buster sword when Sephiroth's pant legs seemed to shiver, a sign that Sephiroth was ready to show his own tentacles.  
  
Again . . . again he was . .  
  
Cloud hunched further in his seat.  
  
The plane rocked around him, and as Cloud clutched the seat, Sephiroth stood tall and steady in front of him.  Outside it was growing darker, even as lightning flashed in the distance.  His nausea grew, his grip tightened on the sword's hilt until his hands cramped, and all he could see through lowered lashes was Sephiroth standing firm through it all.  
  
 _I can't . . . I can't possibly . . . why do I-_  
  
The plane jerked hard, and then abruptly everything was dark but the lightning and Sephiroth's eyes and the dim light from the cockpit.  Cloud could hear Zack cursing as he fought the controls. He licked his lips.  
  
 _They gave us this plane on purpose,_ he thought dully.  _ShinRa gave us this plane on purpose.  It's not strong enough to rise above the storm._  
  
"Hang on!" Zack howled. Sephiroth finally moved, only to stand over Cloud, arms braced on the seat around him.  Cloud could hear his pant legs tear and then tentacles wrapped soothingly around his own legs.  
  
In the direst of situations, the most inane thoughts occurred to a person.  For example, how many more pants did Sephiroth have?  How insane must his world be to find tentacles comforting?  Cloud barely withheld a wild laugh.  
  
It was the lightning, it was Sephiroth's heat to close to him, it was the breath ruffling his hair and Zack's snarls before him and the tension rose so much that Cloud couldn't breathe.  He forced himself to keep his eyes open, to do that much, and he thought he felt Sephiroth's tentacles quietly petting him.  
  
"Sephiroth!" Zack shouted and then Cloud's stomach was rising as the rest of him was dropping.  As the world spun, Sephiroth hunched over him, steady as steel.  
  
Later, Cloud thought he had only blinked.  Even if the wind still rocked the small plane, the horrible dropping sensation was over. Everything ached, the small of his back and his neck in sheer agony.  His uncontrollable shivering only made the pain worse, but he couldn't seem to stop.  
  
All of this, though, was secondary to Sephiroth's glowing eyes, wide with horror, above him.  
  
Still shaking with shock, it took Cloud a moment to register the blood trickling down the side of his face.  He curiously began tilting his head, only to have his ear and temple strike something cold and hard.  Cloud froze, finally aware of the sharp sting in his ear.  
  
“Cloud," Sephiroth murmured, voice strained, "don't move."  
  
Sephiroth's tone did nothing to calm Cloud's shaking.  _Shock_ , he noted to himself.  _I'm going into shock.  That's okay, though.  I was just in a plane crash and almost speared.  I wasn't speared, though, right?  Right?_  
  
Morbidly curiously, Cloud tilted his head to look the rest of himself over, but a swarm of tentacles instantly held him still, stopping the motion.  Cloud froze.  
  
 _I'm speared, aren't I?  I'm going to die, aren't I?  Survived all this and killed by a stupid storm, just a baby one compared to Nibelheim's storms, and I'm speared like a piece of meat over a campfire._  
  
Another wild laugh burned in his throat.  A part of him noted with disgust that this was why he was never going to make SOLDIER: couldn't keep his cool under tense situations.  Of course, if he was speared, then it didn't really matter, did it?  
  
Then something more important occurred to him.  Cloud tried to look Sephiroth over, but the tentacles held him still, and besides, it was too dark in the plane to see anyway.  "Are you okay?" he whispered, and impossibly, green eyes widened more.  
  
"Guys!  Guys, are you okay?  _Guys?_ "  
  
Sephiroth cleared his throat.  "The metal behind Cloud's seat broke," he said, his voice even.  "He's fine, but I'm not sure what will happen if he redistributes his weight."  
  
He's fine.  Oh.  Okay.  He couldn't stop shaking, but that was fine, he was fine, everything was fine.  
  
Cloud exhaled shakily.  Well, at least his motion sickness was gone.  
  
Zack's glowing eyes joined Sephiroth's in the dark, and Cloud watched those glowing green eyes flick in Zack's direction, obviously looking the younger SOLDIER over.  Cloud sighed with relief when Sephiroth looked back at Cloud, looking calmer than before.  Zack was fine, too, apparently.  
  
"I'll help you get him out," Zack offered, "and then we should move to the center of the plane.  It's the most intact."  
  
His voice sounded odd, but right then, everything sounded a little odd to Cloud.  He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing steadily.  
  
"Cloud," Sephiroth spoke up, voice surprisingly harsh, "keep your eyes open.  Don't fall asleep."  
  
Cloud flinched but forced his eyes open again.  It was harder than he expected.  He looked up to meet narrowed green eyes and almost flinched again.   Sephiroth almost looked angry.  To Cloud's surprise, he couldn't remember the last time Sephiroth had looked at him like that.  In fact, he couldn't remember Sephiroth ever really being angry.  
  
At first, Cloud thought they were really eager to move him out of the chair.  Then he heard Zack shout and the plane creak and it was like they were falling again.  Cloud only managed a squeak as the tentacles tightened around him and some loosened and something happened Cloud couldn't tell everything was a play of shadows and glowing eyes and he thought he heard a scream-  
  
And then he was back in the chair, staring wide-eyed at Sephiroth.  Sephiroth stared wide-eyed back.  Cloud looked down.  
  
When the lightning flashed again, it neatly reflected off the metal pole sticking out of his shoulder.  
  
“Oh,” he said softly. It was like the pain had just been waiting for him to notice the pole before it registered with him. Only Zack’s quick hands and tentacles kept him from jerking and jolting the pole further; only sheer self-control kept him from screaming. Cloud thought he felt hands in his hair but couldn’t see anything, could barely register anything besides pain and his next breath.  
  
“Sephiroth!” he heard Zack shout and then he was moving again, tentacles keeping his body still even as they moved him. Then even the pain began to blur, the roaring in his ears combining with Zack’s raised voice.  
  
“Come on, Cloud, come on,” someone was saying but Cloud wasn’t sure whom. There was a flash of light and warmth flooded his body. He sucked in a quick, startled breath, noticing for the first time that he was out of the chair and in someone’s arms.  
  
 _Cure,_ he realized dizzily. And he was being carried out of the plane. _Carried._ Because he couldn’t walk himself.  
  
“Take it easy, buddy,” Zack whispered in his ear, and then he knew who it was carrying him. Cloud let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he had been holding.  
  
 _I’m sorry, Zack._ He didn’t know if he said it aloud or not, but Zack didn’t answer. Cloud could feel Zack’s breath against his forehead, hot and fast, and he wished he could see Zack’s eyes. All he could see was the lightning flashing through the shattered windows.  
  
 _Sephiroth_? Cloud wondered, not hearing the older man. The world shifted and his shoulder blazed and Zack began whispering nonsense in his ear. Zack’s steps weren’t as steady as before and Cloud didn’t know what that meant. He shifted, trying to look around, but pain and Zack’s grip stopped him.  
  
 _I’msorryi’msorryi’msorry …_  
  
Lightning flashed, closer than before. Above him, Zack cursed. He tried to shift again, to see what was going on, but Zack didn’t hesitate before tightening his grip. “Just hold on, Cloud,” Zack murmured.  
  
Lightning tore across the sky again, lighting up everything around him. Cloud barely noticed, weary eyes focused on a piece of sheet metal several meters away. He froze.  
  
“Cloud?” Zack asked, and Cloud jerked in his arms.  
  
“My sword,” he rasped, and the sound of his own voice surprised him. It sounded like the metal pole had struck his throat rather than his shoulder. “My sword!”  
  
Zack’s arms stiffened around him for a moment. “Sephiroth!” he shouted, and something in Cloud relaxed immediately for some reason. “Cloud’s sword is still in the plane!”  
  
Cloud couldn’t hear Sephiroth’s response but that didn’t bother him; he knew the older man would get it. Sighing, Cloud rested his head a little more securely against Zack’s shoulder. He would just get his breath back and then he would try to help them. He just needed to get his breath back first. Just needed one moment.  
  
“Cloud?” Zack whispered again, and Cloud started when he realized he was on the ground. At least, he thought he was on the ground. He knew he was no longer being held by Zack. When had that changed? “You with us, buddy?”  
  
 _Did I leave_? he thought woozily, trying to look around. All he could see were two sets of glowing eyes, but that sight reassured him more than the sight of the sunny sky would. Cloud sighed and relaxed, feeling something rough and warm under him. That coaxed him to take further note of his surroundings.  
  
No lightning or wind, so probably some type of shelter. If he had known where they had crash landed, he would be able to make a better guess. He ached but not as bad as before: probably use of Cure.  
  
And he had a headache the size of Midgar.  
  
Zack must have seen something, because next thing Cloud knew, a large, warm hand was rubbing against his temple. “Go back to sleep, Cloud. We’re in a cave right now. We’re going to head out in the morning.”  
  
Cloud blinked—or at least he thought he blinked—at Zack’s eyes. He thought they were Zack’s eyes. And did Zack say _back_ to sleep?  
  
Then a new hand touched his shoulder. “Rest, Cloud.”  
  
Cloud sighed quietly, an apology on the tip of his tongue though he couldn’t remember why. The glowing eyes faded from his sight.  
  
When he opened his eyes again, only one pair was there to greet him, wide and glowing green. Cloud stared blankly at them, wondering why they were so close. He shivered, for the first time noticing the pain in his shoulder and the sweat drenching his skin. It was the quiet repeat of “Rest, Cloud,” that convinced him that he was dreaming, that relaxed him enough so he could close his eyes again.  
  
Cloud had no idea what woke him up later. Something hard and warm was wrapped around him, and he could see the reflected shine of glowing eyes even if he couldn’t see the eyes themselves. Zack and Sephiroth said nothing, and Cloud wondered drowsily if they had slept yet.  
  
“I’ll go check it out,” Zack murmured. “Stay with him.”  
  
No verbal response but Cloud shifted sleepily when something tightened around him. He thought he heard a laugh but then he was dozing off again, still absently wondering what had awoken him and when the others were going to sleep.  
  
The sensation of something warm and wet against his chest woke him up later. The feeling of something holding his fist above his head was almost enough to completely rouse him, but Zack’s and Sephiroth’s whispered conversation above him calmed him. However, even the warmth of the moisture against his chest did nothing to combat the chill sensation creeping over his stomach to his shoulders. He shivered and twisted, moving into the same warmth that held his hand.  
  
“ _Zack?_ ”  
  
“Man, I wish I had a camera.”  
  
“ _Zack!_ ”  
  
And then the world faded away again.  
  
When Cloud woke next, the ground was moving under him. He sighed inwardly, not bothering to open his eyes. Was he dreaming again? Had he been dreaming before? And what was he remembering about a camera?  
  
He groaned quietly, little aches and pains making themselves known. To distract himself, he tried to take inventory of his surroundings. It was daylight now, judging by the too bright light burning through his eyelids. Thinking of that reminded him of his headache, though, so he pushed past that. The ground was moving. They did land in a swamp, but between Zack and Sephiroth, they easily would have found solid ground. It also couldn’t be dangerous, again credit to the two SOLDIERs. So what . . .  
  
Realizing opening his eyes would greatly help, Cloud forced them open. And wished he hadn’t.  
  
Later he would swear that he hadn’t squeaked, but no one would blame him even if he had. Mere inches from his face, Sephiroth’s face remained relaxed in slumber, long silver hair tumbling over his cheek. Cloud stared for a moment, fascinated by the green light shining dimly under long lashes.  
  
Of course, to be that close to his face . . . Cloud swallowed thickly and looked down. Again, a non-squeak emerged, and he wondered frantically how he could maneuver off Sephiroth’s chest without waking the General. He was amazed that he had managed this far without waking the man and oh by Odin he really didn’t want to imagine Sephiroth’s face if he woke up like that.  
  
Trying not to exhale - afraid his breath might be just enough to wake him - Cloud gingerly moved his hand to Sephiroth’s side. Aches ricocheted through his body, but if he could maneuver out of this situation, it would be worth it. He licked his lips and carefully attempted to balance his weight on that one arm. A one armed push-up. Simple, right?  
  
“Hey, Sephiroth! You should come see this!”  
  
Cloud yelped, accidentally putting too much weight on his hand. He toppled over, slamming on his back just in time to see Sephiroth’s eyes fly open.  
  
“Cloud?” Sephiroth demanded. Cloud dizzily marveled at his ability to immediately be wide awake. “Are you all right?”  
  
Before Cloud could answer, Zack thundered into the cave. Before he had met Zack, he had no idea that was even possible. “Cloud?” Zack yelped. “You okay?”  
  
Splayed on his back, body aching, pride even more-so, and staring up at the two men he respected most, Cloud realized that asking them to drop a heavy rock on his head to take care of his embarrassment would not be the best response. Instead, he smiled weakly. “Ah, good morning?”  
  
Twenty minutes later, more than half of which assuring the others he was all right, Cloud stumbled towards the cave entrance. His head still spun (“You lost a lot of blood, Cloud, and if you need to lie down and rest—there’s no rush”) and his body still ached (“Ack! Ack! Take it easy, Cloud! Cures only do so much!”) but if he had to tolerate one more instant of babying he was going to scream.  
  
At the cave entrance, Cloud had to pause a moment and stare at the door mat. He was sure it once belonged to a serpent and was even more confident that it once did not have “Eat this, fuckers” written on it but knew better than to ask. Sighing, he shook his head and stepped out of the cave.  
  
Oh. Wow. Cloud leaned against the cave entrance and stared. He absently wondered how by Gaea he had heard Zack’s voice outside of the cave earlier and quickly decided he didn’t really want to know. If he had been anyone else but Zack Cloud might even have wondered how Zack had been able to return clean of muck.  
  
Because that was all Cloud could see: muck.  
  
 _So that’s why the plane seemed so shaky when we were moving on it,_ Cloud thought dazedly, looking around. At the time he hadn’t really been concerned, dismissing it as a result of his own vertigo. Looking around now, he knew better.  
  
 _The plane must have landed right in the marsh,_ Cloud realized. Sickly grays and greens dominated his sight, thin weeds drifting through thick, dark water. He couldn’t see the remains of the plane anywhere, and he swallowed when he realized it—and everything on it—was as good as lost.  
  
Like his sword.  
  
Cloud almost gave himself whiplash snapping his gaze back towards the interior of the cave. He had completely forgotten it, not yet used to relying on it. How thoughtless. Despite Zack and Sephiroth’s presence, he knew many dangers still lurked, as shown by the new greeting mat. He would have to start remembering to keep it with him, needed to keep himself armed so he wouldn’t be any more of a burden to the SOLDIERs. He shook his head. He had already been enough of one.  
  
Just as Cloud turned to retrieve it, he heard an odd sound from the gloom. Cloud stiffened, recalling tales of the monsters that lurked in the marsh. He turned slowly. Midgar Zoloms lived here, right? Surely their sizes were just myths, right?  
  
Right?  
  
If he found a Midgar Zolom now, Zack would never let him live it down.  
  
Breath shuddering his in his chest, Cloud looked around. His eyes locked with intelligent dark eyes, and he froze.  
  
“Kweh?”  
  
And just like that, Cloud Strife fell in love.  
  
“Hey, buddy,” Cloud crooned. The chocobo cocked its bright yellow head—such a beautiful color enhanced by incredibly smooth feathers—and stared at Cloud. It stood on the marsh like it was standing on solid ground, and Cloud could only stare, fascinated. He had seen chocobos wander effortlessly through Nibelheim’s mountains, but he hadn’t realized they could stand so easily in swamps, too. He daydreamed for a moment about all the places he could ride one, still staring into those brilliant eyes. It would be so amazing.  
  
“Kweh?” the chocobo repeated, like it was asking a question, and Cloud shook his head.  
  
“Where did you come from, eh?” he cooed, holding out a hand. “You’re gorgeous. Are you that good at taking care of yourself or do you have someone to help you? A rider, maybe?”  
  
Cloud knew he was smiling like a loon—or Zack when he was pulling a prank—but he couldn’t help it. His grin grew even larger when the chocobo stepped closer. The chocobo’s large claws caused small ripples in the water but otherwise didn’t affect the marsh. Cloud wondered if that was how it avoided predators: they just didn’t notice it.  
  
Cloud ducked his head and peeked. Ah. Him.  
  
The chocobo stepped so it was right in front of Cloud, but Cloud did not move his hand to pet him. He kept his fingers spread invitingly, palm facing upwards. Beyond moving his head to look at the chocobo, Cloud didn’t move.  
  
“First move is all yours,” Cloud murmured, unable to look away from those big, bright eyes. Maybe . . . if he could get into SOLDIER... he heard they had field chocobos. Only the chocobo’s close proximity kept him from slipping into another daydream. It would be nice, though. “I give good scritches. Really good scritches. And I can scratch your crest. Bet it’s hard for you to reach that, huh?”  
  
The chocobo chirped in response and leaned closer. The large bird brushed his beak first against Cloud’s hand, a slight warning, before turning his head so Cloud could bury his fingers in its feathers. Cloud obligingly scratched the side of his head, and he swore he could hear it coo.  
  
“You’re beautiful, aren’t you?” Cloud murmured. “Absolutely beautiful.”  
  
Another croon and the chocobo pressed its head harder into Cloud’s palm. He couldn’t help a dopey smile.  
  
“Cloud? Are you okay?”  
  
Not turning away from the chocobo, Cloud called, “Yeah, Z—”  
  
Several things happened at once.  
  
The chocobo yanked its head away from Cloud’s palm and made a high-pitched screech of a noise. Startled, Cloud cried out, for the first time aware of its sharp beak and sharper talons. He heard Zack and Sephiroth shouting behind him and then all he could see were bright yellow feathers.  
  
And in front of him, he heard what sounded distinctly like a feral hiss.  
  
“Shit,” he said, or thought he said, and then his feet were off the ground. Cloud cried out again, feeling the sharp rasp of the chocobo’s beak against the back of his neck, only to realize it was grabbing the back of his shirt. The world spun—no, he spun—and then he was on the chocobo’s back, breath exploding from him in a whoosh. He definitely heard Zack and Sephiroth shouting, but by that time, the chocobo was already moving, darting to one side. He grabbed fistfuls of bright yellow feathers, holding himself steady.  
  
When the world stopped moving, Sephiroth stood in front of him, Masamune in his hands, what appeared to be two pieces of an eight meter long serpent at his feet. Zack stood at the cave entrance, blade in his hands but eyes focused solely on Cloud.  
  
And Cloud was on top of the chocobo.  
  
Thrilled at the feel of feathers under his hands and undeniable strength under him, Cloud couldn’t resist a grin. “Where do you think he came from?” he enthused. “Isn’t there a farm near here?”  
  
The SOLDIERs simply stared at him. He wondered if it was another SOLDIER thing.

xoxoxoxo

Cloud quickly vetoed Zack’s suggestion of chocobo wings for dinner, and Zack just as quickly vetoed Sephiroth’s suggestion to use his coat to create a sword sheath for Cloud.  Both SOLDIERs, however, agreed that Cloud needed to have his sword with him at all times.  Cloud just wished Zack would stop eyeing the chocobo whenever he said it.

Especially since the chocobo refused to leave Cloud’s side.

Cloud patiently allowed the chocobo to search through his pockets for snacks as he listened to Zack and Sephiroth plan.  One hand rested on the hilt of his sword (he would not forget it this time), while the other hand absently stroked the chocobo’s head.  The chocobo chirped but otherwise remained quiet at Cloud’s side, long legs curled under its body.  It had taken both Sephiroth and Cloud to convince Zack that the chocobo would have great difficulty kicking Cloud from that position.  It had taken Cloud a little longer to convince both of them that the chocobo would not gouge his eyes out with his beak.

Honestly.  Cloud tossed a grin at the chocobo and scratched above his eyes.  He received a contented chirp in response.  Why by Hel were they so paranoid?

He discovered that yes, there was a chocobo farm nearby, and yes, that was probably from where the chocobo had come, though both SOLDIERs eyed the chocobo oddly when they said that.  While both SOLDIERs agreed that traveling to the farm was the best idea, neither could quite agree on how to accomplish it.  Each time it was brought up, they stared at the chocobo like it was about to bite Cloud’s hand off.

If Cloud kept thinking about the chocobo, he should name it. Of course, if he already had a name, it would be rude to name him.  On the other hand, it might be even ruder to keep referring to him as the chocobo.

As if in silent apology for his train of thought, Cloud focused a bit more on scratching the chocobo’s neck.  He made an odd purring noise, and Cloud couldn’t help a smile . . . until he noticed his nails catching on what felt like raised skin.

Zack froze as if he had been shot when he noticed Cloud frowning.  Cloud bit back a sigh when he noticed Sephiroth stiffen, too: rolling his eyes would definitely be far ruder than inadvertently renaming a chocobo.  Instead, he licked his lips and quietly shook his head.

“He’s scarred,” Cloud explained, eyes flitting back and forth between Sephiroth and Zack.  The intensity of Sephiroth’s gaze lowered Cloud’s eyes a bit.  “I wonder how he got that way living at a farm.”

Something must have shown on Cloud’s face, because Zack quickly smiled and reached out as if to touch Cloud’s shoulder.  “Hey—Whoa!”

Zack barely jerked his hand back in time to avoid losing his fingers to the chocobo’s sharp beak.  Sephiroth twitched, and Cloud cringed, recognizing the now familiar precursor to the tentacles being unleashed.  Hoping to stall it, he lightly thwacked the chocobo on the beak.  The chocobo squawked at him.  “No more biting,” Cloud scolded.  “You could hurt someone, y’know.”

The chocobo stared soulfully at him, and when Cloud looked up, he met Zack’s equally soulful eyes.  He glanced helplessly at Sephiroth, who simply shrugged back.  The chocobo having successfully destroyed the conversation, Sephiroth turned to his blade and resumed cleaning the snake guts off it.  The rest of the snake had been cleaned and now decorated Zack’s floor mat.

Cloud looked back at Zack and the chocobo, only to realize they were engaged in a staring match.  He bit back a groan.

“Cloud,” Sephiroth interrupted his thoughts.  When Cloud looked back up, Sephiroth met his gaze and then nodded at Cloud’s sword.  “You were only taught gun maintenance in Midgar, correct?”

Cloud swallowed, reminded again of their roles.  “Yes, sir.”

Sephiroth met his eyes again.  While the General’s face remained calm, his eyes softened a little.  “Then I’ll teach you how to clean your blade.”

Suddenly, Cloud didn’t mind Zack’s and the chocobo’s antics anymore.  His smile lit his face.  “Yes, sir.”

And to his surprise, Sephiroth smiled back.  “It’s Sephiroth,” he reminded gently.  “Now see if you can pull out your blade without surprising either of the feather heads.”

xoxoxox

In the end, it was decided that Cloud would ride the chocobo over the marshes while Sephiroth and Zack went on foot.  When Cloud protested, Sephiroth calmly pointed out that they could easily pass the Midgar Zoloms while Cloud would have a bit of difficulty.  He also added quietly that if the chocobo proved useful, it would be easy to convince Zack not to flambé it.  Even as Zack sulked, Cloud agreed.

The leftover Zolom skin provided an excellent sheath for Cloud’s sword.  Zack attempted to help Cloud on top of the chocobo, and afterwards, Sephiroth was kind enough to Cure the long scratch on his arm.  While he helped Zack, he also soothed Cloud and eventually quieted his frantic apologies.  All in all, it was close to midday before the trio was ready to head out.

“If you see a Zolom, Cloud,” Sephiroth reminded him, checking on Cloud’s sheath again, “do not attempt to fight.  Fighting is not our priority.”

Cloud nodded, his hands lightly gripping the chocobo’s feathers.  Zack stood on the other side of Sephiroth, glaring glowing death at the bird.  Zack’s silent feud with the bird had only worsened when it was discovered the chocobo would allow Sephiroth close and not Zack.  Now that Zack’s arm was healed, Cloud thought it was kinda funny, though he still had to bite his lip to keep from apologizing.

“I remember,” Cloud reassured him, raising one hand to gently scratch the chocobo’s head.  He chirped back at Cloud, and Cloud smiled.  Yeah.  When he got back to Midgar, he would definitely try to get a chocobo just like this one.

Sephiroth nodded and lightly patted the chocobo’s side.  He whispered something to the chocobo, but Cloud couldn’t make it out.  He guessed it probably had something to do with Zack, who was still cradling his arm like the chocobo had ripped it open rather than simply scratched him, and shrugged to himself.  Oh well.

Sephiroth’s hand lingered for a moment on the chocobo’s side, right beside Cloud’s leg, and Cloud stared inquisitively at him, wondering if Sephiroth had something else to add.  However, Sephiroth didn’t look at him, simply stared at the yellow expanse beside Cloud’s thigh, and absently patted the chocobo again.  Shaking his head, Sephiroth stepped away and looked towards the mouth of the cave. 

“S—Sephiroth?” Cloud called quietly, and Sephiroth responded with a thoughtful smile. 

“Time to move out,” he said rather than answer. Cloud nodded.  Right. 

Leaning down, Cloud whispered to the chocobo, “Ready to go?”  The bird chirped in response. Grinning, Cloud sat back up.  He nodded to the others, and Sephiroth strode out of the cave.  At Zack’s nod, Cloud led the chocobo forward. Zack took up the rear.

Cloud knew— _knew—_ he should be watching his surroundings, keeping an eye out for Zoloms and other nasties, but he couldn’t look away from Sephiroth.  The man walked through the marsh as if he owned it, each step confident and smooth, knowing where to put his feet to keep from sinking into the marsh.  Without looking, he knew Zack was the same way behind him, sleek and strong. He had to swallow to keep from acting like a fool.

He also knew he should be more wary of the Zoloms, but now that he was armed and prepared, it seemed more like a stroll through the mountains, surrounded by Nibelheim’s familiar dragons, then a march through unfamiliar territory.  Of course, even then it would be difficult to be too wary with Zack and Sephiroth there.

Which led him back to his original problem.

Only will kept him steady on the chocobo’s back, and it was because of that that Cloud noticed the whirling water several meters away.  “Sephiroth!” he called, yanking out his blade.  “Zack!”

“Run, Cloud!” Sephiroth snapped, pulling out his Masamune.  Cloud swallowed hard but didn’t hesitate, tapping his heels into the chocobo’s sides.  Even as the chocobo sprang lightly forward, Cloud kept his sword out and listened for the SOLDIERs.  To his relief, he heard them splashing behind him.

_Now’s not the time to fight,_ he reminded himself.  _Now we just have to get home_.

And Cloud knew that thought was hopelessly naïve when he saw the water swirl wildly in front of him.

“Shit,” he said aloud.

“ _Cloud!_ ”

Someone shouted it, but Cloud was too focused on staying on the chocobo to figure out whom.  The Zolom exploded from the water, and Cloud tightened his thighs on the chocobo’s flanks and held on as the bird leaped to one side.  The Zolom missed them by inches— _bigger than the last one how big do these things **get?**_ —but the chocobo didn’t falter and Cloud didn’t lose his grip on his blade.  The chocobo ran parallel to the hissing mass and Cloud swung, feeling his blade slice easily through the hard skin.

“Ambush!” he shouted, his sharp eyes already catching several other swirls in the water.  “They’re surrounding us.”

Cloud only glanced back to make sure the wound he had delivered had been a fatal one, not daring to take enough time to check on the others.  The other two were SOLDIERs, Cloud knew, leaving him the weak link in the chain.  The Zoloms would probably be able to smell the mako in the SOLDIERs and would be able to figure it out.  He gritted his teeth.  He couldn’t fail.

There was a gap in the whirling waters, but Cloud felt like it was too obvious a gap.  He heard Sephiroth and Zack behind him and _knew_ that they could easily escape if they didn’t have to worry about him.  Tightening his grip on both his sword and the chocobo, Cloud focused on one spot in particular and nudged the chocobo forward again.  He responded instantly, and Cloud couldn’t help a grin as the chocobo moved smoothly under him.

No.  No chocobo in Midgar could possibly match this one.

He thought he heard Zack shout behind him, but Cloud didn’t slow his charge: right towards the narrow gap between two swirls.  Just as the chocobo lunged over them, the two Zoloms emerged, diving forward.  Cloud didn’t flinch, simply leaned into the chocobo’s neck, and heard the two Zoloms crack their heads behind him.

“Zack!” Sephiroth shouted behind him, and Cloud twisted on the chocobo to see Zack move through the gap.  Terror chilled his blood as multiple Zoloms flew from the water, all heading towards Zack.

_SOLDIERSOLDIERSOLDIERSOLDIER . . ._

Out of the corner of his eye, Cloud could see Sephiroth darting towards Zack’s location, and then the chocobo was leaping to one side.  A Zolom flew up from where they had just stood. Water splashed Cloud’s face, half blinding him, even as he swiped out with his blade.  He marveled at how easily the sword cut through the serpent, and if he had more time, he truly would have been in awe of it.  As it was, Cloud steadied himself on the chocobo and glanced at Zack again.

And saw something right past where the young man was dancing with the serpents.

“Let’s go, boy,” Cloud breathed, nudging the chocobo with his knees.  Without hesitation, as if he could sense what Cloud was thinking, the chocobo lunged forward.

Many of the serpents were already dead, mutilated parts floating around where Zack fought.  Sephiroth was edging in, blade flashing like lightning, but Cloud could easily see more rising.  The trap had to have been right over the nest, Cloud realized, and gritted his teeth, urging the chocobo on.  It charged fearlessly towards the chaos, and Cloud fell in love with him then.

“ _Cloud!_ ” someone shouted, and this time Cloud _knew_ that cry was from Sephiroth, but he didn’t allow himself to hesitate.  The Zoloms were just beginning to realize they had another player in their midst, and Cloud could see them flashing their fangs.

“C’mon, boy,” Cloud whispered, and just before they reached the fray, Cloud tilted to one side.  The chocobo obligingly changed direction.

And one ambitious Zolom’s earth attack took out half of the group.

Grinning like a fool, Cloud didn’t stop the chocobo’s charge, allowing him to run to the safety of dry land.  He let him run several more meters before turning around to look back at Zack and Sephiroth.  The two SOLDIERs were easily destroying the remaining Zoloms.  Many of the serpents were already fleeing, and Cloud couldn’t stop smiling for the life of him.  Within moments, the two were jogging towards Cloud’s location.

Zack reached him first, violet eyes blazing.  “What the hell do you think you were doing, Cloud?  You could have been killed!”

Cloud’s grin didn’t falter.  “What I was told to do: run.”

Cloud’s good humor died after he placed his sword back in its sheath and tried to get off the chocobo to check for wounds.  Pain twinged through both his legs and his lower back, and he froze, momentarily paralyzed on the chocobo’s back.  The bird chirped at him, and Cloud managed to weakly pat his neck.

He had just successfully managed to fight off/elude dozens of Midgar Zoloms.  He could slide off the back of a chocobo.

Zack paused from where he was putting his blade back.  “Hey, Cloud?  Are you okay?”

Cloud forced a tight grin and tried again.  Okay, maybe he couldn’t.

Zack’s faint smile faded.  “Hey, Cloud—”  He stepped towards the chocobo, only to hop back when a sharp beak snapped at him.  Cloud thought he should scold the chocobo or apologize or _something_ , but he was too busy lecturing himself on the cons of whimpering.

Sephiroth looked up from his own blade, and recognition flickered in his eyes.  He stepped forward.  “I believe your chocobo is a retired war chocobo, Cloud,” he said mildly.  Cloud blinked, and Sephiroth nodded.  “So he should know several tricks.”  Sephiroth looked away from Cloud to stare at the chocobo.  “Down.”

Nothing happened.  Sephiroth looked expectantly at Cloud, and the blond flushed, realizing what Sephiroth meant.  He cleared his throat.  “Down.”

Not expecting anything, Cloud gasped quietly when the chocobo immediately crouched on the ground.  Cloud’s feet touched the soft soil, and he grimaced, forcing himself to stand.  Sephiroth’s hand on his elbow steadied him when he stepped away from the chocobo.

Embarrassed, Cloud licked his lips.  “A war chocobo?” he asked, distracting himself and hopefully the SOLDIERs away from what just happened.

He didn’t know if it worked, but Sephiroth went along with it.  “Yes,” he agreed.  The chocobo stood up again, body ready and eyes sharp, and Sephiroth stared at it.  “It would explain the scars.”

Cloud felt like he was missing something again, but by now it was an extremely familiar feeling.

“I wonder how he got out here then?” Cloud wondered aloud, turning back to the chocobo.  He stood patiently as Cloud ran his hands through his feathers, looking for any new injuries.  At one point, Cloud attempted to bend over to check his legs and realized he couldn’t.  Before he could decide on a new plan, the chocobo obligingly raised one leg at a time for Cloud’s inspection.

For some reason, Sephiroth had yet to move away.  Cloud could feel his body heat at his back.  He hoped his flush could be associated with his recent exertion.  “A retired war chocobo is often sent to chocobo farms,” Sephiroth explained.  There was something ironic in his tone that confused Cloud.  “Generally when they are too injured or refuse to take another master.”

Zack snarled something behind him, and Cloud turned his head to look at the brunet.  Zack didn’t look up, glaring at his mud covered boots as if they had personally offended him.  Looking at his boots, Cloud seriously hoped Zack could control his transformations for a while.  Since the plane sunk, those were his last pair.

Cloud absently patted the chocobo on the neck again, assured that he was unharmed, and gingerly turned to the older men.  His back ached and he knew it was going to be agony later, but he could ignore it for now.  Controlling his breathing, Cloud looked at Sephiroth first, wondering why the man was eyeing him like that.

“Are you well, Cloud?” Sephiroth inquired quietly.

Cloud flushed again, too aware of the ache in his thighs and lower back.  “Yes,” he assured him, taking a moment to look him over.  He wondered how by Odin Sephiroth managed to walk away from that mess with barely a drop of mud on him.

Zack finally looked away from his boots to stare at Cloud.  Cloud took the opportunity to study the SOLDIER.  Definitely more mud splattered than Sephiroth but Cloud couldn’t see any visible marks.  He couldn’t help but smile, inwardly marveling at the man’s skill.

However, Zack wasn’t smiling.  “Honestly, Cloud.  Midgar Zoloms aren’t poisonous, but that marsh might as well be.”  His usual grinning lips were set in a hard line.  Cloud blinked, unused to that expression.  “All it takes is that stuff to get into a single scratch.”

Covered in smelly mud, wild black spikes limp from the moisture of the marsh, Zack looked more like a typical SOLDIER then than he usually ever did, his sparkling eyes now dark.  Cloud wanted to smile but couldn’t, more used to seeing Sephiroth in a professional light than he did Zack.  He held up his hands in an “I’m unarmed” gesture, letting Zack look his fill.

“Just stiff from the chocobo,” he quietly assured him, wondering if now was an appropriate time to add “Sir.”  Zack looked him over, eyes glowing brightly, and Cloud wondered what he saw.  Apparently he saw enough, because he nodded to himself and turned that vivid gaze on Sephiroth.  To Cloud’s surprise, Sephiroth neither looked annoyed or shocked, instead raising his hands in a move similar to Cloud’s and letting Zack look him over.  Again, Zack nodded, but his frown didn’t fade, his brow furrowed thoughtfully.  Cloud couldn’t resist looking _his_ fill, still stunned how differently Zack looked when he was so serious.

“We should travel away from the marshes,” Sephiroth declared after a tense moment.  “We are still in range of an earth attack.”

Cloud silently nodded, looking Zack and Sephiroth over one last time before turning to the chocobo.  He lightly gripped the feathers on his neck.  He tried to surreptitiously lean on the chocobo for support, not wanting to admit how stiff and sore his legs were.  If the SOLDIERs noticed they didn’t say anything.  Sephiroth quietly fell into step beside Cloud with Zack again taking up the rear.

“He grew up in Gongaga,” Sephiroth explained softly, barely loud enough for Cloud to hear.  “He knows better than most the dangers of infection and disease.”

Ah.  Cloud nodded solemnly.  He thought about the marsh and the sickly looking water and the Zoloms’ sharp fangs.  This led him to thinking about the ambush, and he frowned, puzzled.

“Cloud?” Sephiroth inquired, and Cloud glanced first at him and then Zack.

“I knew Nibel wolves and dragons planned traps and ambushes,” he explained, “but I didn’t think Zoloms were smart enough or social enough to plan them.”  Cloud shrugged, bemused.  “Huh.”

It took him several more steps before he realized Zack and Sephiroth had stopped.  Cloud stopped, too, and stared inquisitively at them, wondering if they had seen something in the plains.  The two SOLDIERs simply stared at him for a moment before resuming.  Shrugging again, Cloud continued walking.

xoxoxox

Due to their late start, the group wasn’t able to reach the farm by nightfall.  Sephiroth checked out the area (“Scare the shit out of the locals,” Zack said, grinning madly), while Zack and Cloud set up their little camp.  Cloud also graciously bandaged Zack’s hand when the older man got too close to the chocobo.  Zack simply glared at it and snarled “Vali” under his breath.  He refused to explain it no matter how often Cloud asked.  His grumbling only increased when Cloud took to calling the chocobo Vali.

To Cloud’s relief, however, Zack’s grumbling was obviously good-natured, even if his glares at the chocobo weren’t.  Using twigs and Zack’s Fire material, the pair set up a fire, and Cloud took the opportunity to study Zack in the red light.

It had been odd—very odd—to see Zack so intense.  To Cloud’s shame, he had to admit that sometimes he forgot that Zack was a first class SOLDIER.  Zack’s intensity had been a sharp reminder of that.

And a sharp reminder that he didn’t know the man that well after all.

Vali curled up beside Cloud and he absently pet the bird while he quietly studied Zack.  Before all of _this_ , Cloud had gone on several missions with Zack as the leader.  For some reason, Zack had attached himself to Cloud; Cloud had never understood why.  Zack had joked about country boys sticking together, but surely that couldn’t be enough for a high ranking officer to have a friendship with a lowly recruit, one that couldn’t even pass the SOLDIER exam.  Zack had been his only friend—his _best_ friend—for months, but what did Cloud have to return the favor?

_“He reminded me of you, actually, when I first saw him.”_

Something smacked Cloud’s ankle.  He blinked and then blushed.  When had Zack pulled off his pants and transformed into his tentacles again?

…At least, Cloud hoped Zack had taken off his pants first.

“Stop thinking so loud,” Zack scolded.  His eyes looked soft in the firelight.  “We’re almost back in Midgar.  We’ll be okay.”

For a moment, Cloud felt like he was back in the cave on Nibel Mountain again.  He shook his head, fighting back the memories.  Now wasn’t the time for them.

“I know,” Cloud agreed, even if he didn’t feel so sure.  Zack thought it was easy to brush off, but he _had_ killed Professor Hojo, right in front of the Turks.  He didn’t have the protection of SOLDIER status; he didn’t have really any protection at all. 

At the thought, he frowned to himself.  He wondered where the Turks were.  Did they go from Nibelheim to Midgar?  He remembered the SOLDIERs in Wutai mentioning something about the Turks, but he couldn’t remember what.

And what about Val—Vincent?  What was he doing now?

Zack smacked his ankle again.  Out of the corner of his eye, Cloud saw Vali eyeing up Zack’s tentacle like it was dinner.  “Stop it, seriously.”  Zack grinned winningly at him, but even in the firelight, Cloud could see its brittleness.  “Hey, how about you finish that story you were telling in Nibelheim?”

Story in Nibelheim? …oh.  Against Cloud’s will, his lips twitched.  “You mean about you and the poison ivy?  Weren’t you there for that, Zack?”

Cloud would swear Zack had flushed.  “No!  Not that!  The myths!”

Cloud wrinkled his nose and lightly kicked Zack’s tentacle.  For some reason, Vali relaxed when he did that.  “Doesn’t Gongaga have any myths?”

Zack opened his mouth as if to reply, paused, and then grinned mischievously.  “I have some stories about frogs.”

Cloud only hesitated a moment.  “Never mind.  Where was I?”

“Talking about Hel,” Sephiroth’s smooth baritone answered, and to Cloud’s pride, he didn’t jump.  Sephiroth’s graceful entrance reminded Cloud of Vincent for some reason.  He guessed it was because he had just been thinking about him, because Vincent didn’t slither anywhere on tentacles.  Obviously, Sephiroth had taken advantage of the solitude, too.

Cloud nodded and thought for a moment.  “She was related to a deadly wolf,” he began, trying to remember the details.  He hadn’t heard his mother’s stories for years.  He regretted that he hadn’t asked for her stories in his letters.  “The wolf was supposed to be the ancestor to the Nibel wolves.”  He grinned.  “That’s why there are no other wolves in the world like Nibel wolves.”

Considering the trouble most of the villagers had ( _never will again_ ) with the Nibel wolves, Cloud had always been incredibly proud of them.  Even in the military, he had never seen wolves as large and deadly as Nibel wolves: nor as beautiful.  He had once asked his mother to keep a wolf pup, but the mayor had thrown a fit.

“She had another sibling, a serpent,” he continued.  Cloud frowned thoughtfully.  “Not too much is mentioned about the serpent.  At least, my mom didn’t talk about it too much.”  He shrugged.  “She preferred other stories, I guess.”

“A serpent?” Sephiroth inquired, his voice soft and thoughtful.  In the firelight, his face looked soft and thoughtful, and Cloud had to look away.

“Yeah.”  He smiled apologetically.  “Sorry I don’t know more.”

Sephiroth only shook his head.  Zack nudged him with a tentacle.  “Anyway?” he prodded.

Cloud cleared his throat.  Telling stories around the fire like this felt strangely intimate.  He didn’t know why.  He had slept in an enclosed area several times with these men, had been with them while they bathed, had _carried_ them up Nibel Mountain, and this felt intimate?  He supposed the villagers were right: he was strange.

“The people of Nibel Mountain worshipped Her for many years,” he continued.  “She was more of a neutral goddess than a good one, though.  Goddess of ice and the dead: not much _good_ there, all neutral.  But the people of Nibel definitely had a goddess, and they always knew when they died that their souls would go somewhere safe.”  Cloud quieted for a moment, remembering his mother’s burning corpse.  “For years, the Nibel people worshipped the dead, generally through the winter.  My mom always said they cared more about the dead than they did the living, and then they cared more about the living than they did the dead.”  He glanced up at the other two.  “That’s why my mom knew all the stories.  She still worshipped Hel.”  He shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed.  “All my family did: that’s why we’re called Strife.”

Sephiroth and Zack had nothing to say to that.  Cloud cleared his throat again and stroked Vali’s neck again.  Something warm and smooth wrapped around his ankle, and he knew without looking that it was Zack’s tentacle.  “In older days—”

Cloud never had a chance to finish his sentence.  Apparently disturbed at Zack touching Cloud like that, Vali lunged forward, sharp beak snagging Zack’s tentacle.  Later, while Sephiroth—again—Cured Zack, Cloud confided that Nibel wolves in the winter sounded a lot like Zack had just then.

Zack remained unimpressed.

xoxoxox

That night, Cloud fell in love with Vali all over again.  Not only did the chocobo provide an excellent pillow, his heavy wing also proved to be a great blanket.  After Zack had insisted that everyone strip to allow their clothes to completely dry, the chocobo had graciously provided a source of warmth in the chill night.  Cloud only hoped that the SOLDIERs were equally warm.

Cloud was almost completely asleep when an odd noise woke him up.  He didn’t stir, aware of the two heavily trained men nearby and his own sword right by his side.  Instead, he listened.

“—about Cloud?”

“He’s had a long day; he’s probably fast asleep.  And _you_ need to relax.”

“Zack—”

“Uh-uh.  Seriously, man, you’re so _tense._   You need to relax.”  Zack’s tone grew mischievous.  “And we haven’t tested these babies out yet.”

Now Cloud was completely confused, but he didn’t want to reveal that he was awake.  It was bad enough that he was encroaching on their privacy.  He didn’t want to steal their moment from them, too.  Cloud concentrated on his breathing, trying to go back to sleep.

It almost worked.

Only years of training kept Cloud from leaping out of his skin at Sephiroth’s muffled gasp and what sounded suspiciously like a slurp.  Zack spoke again, too low for Cloud to hear, his tone reassuring and teasing at the same time.  Another wet noise and Sephiroth barely bit back a moan.  It took all of Cloud’s skill to keep from moving.

_Are they . . .?_

Another moan—this one Zack’s—and a sigh and Cloud could clearly hear skin on skin, tentacles moving together.  Whispers and moans carried over the faint crackling of the fire.  He tried not to listen but it was hard to ignore the sound of Zack panting.

“Zack . . .”

So husky and intimate and Cloud had never been harder in his entire life.  He bit back a whimper, too scared to shift to find a more comfortable position.

“Just relax, Seph.  I’m right here.”

And he had _never_ heard Zack sound like that.  Cloud shivered under the chocobo’s wing.

Even when the pair eventually quieted, Cloud could not sleep.  Curled against the chocobo, Cloud focused on keeping his breathing even and steady, too aware of his hard cock throbbing in his boxers.

_Oh Hel._

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this ready to post for, oh, three months? Then I completely forgot about it. Ah, sorry about that.

One good thing about being up all night, Cloud discovered: it gave one plenty of time to plan.  If nothing else, he did _not_ want Sephiroth and Zack to realize he knew what they were up to last night.

By the time Sephiroth woke up – all graceful limbs and tentacles and Cloud knew he was in trouble – Cloud was already dressed and cleaning up the remains of the fire.  Vali was as well groomed as he could be with just his beak and Cloud's fingers. Time to move.

“Good morning,” Cloud greeted, voice barely audible over Zack's snores.  This was the first time he could recall Zack snoring.  He knew a lot of troops snored after drinking; apparently, Zack snored after--

Cloud failed at the first part of his plan: _not thinking about it._

“Good morning,” Sephiroth returned, mouth and brow drawn in faint confusion.  Cloud glanced at him no obvious signs of last night's activities.  That made things a little easier.

Cloud smiled.  Fortunately for him, it was a genuine effort.  “I woke up earlier and couldn't get back to sleep,” he said, mostly truthfully. No need to say why, after all.

Sephiroth relaxed and nodded, and guilt immediately clawed at Cloud.  He wasn't sure why: he wasn't _lying_ or anything.  Just not telling the whole truth and he was going to stop thinking about that now.

Cloud hastily turned to Vali when Sephiroth smacked one of Zack's tentacles with his own.  However, that did nothing to block out the sound, and he managed to keep his face straight even as he reddened a little.  He knew what last night was about . . . he thought.  Zack had even said it: relaxation.  Sephiroth was tense and Cloud really, really needed to stop thinking about it.

“Wake up, Zack,” Sephiroth said, rising and reaching for his clothes.  All night by the fire had not only dried them but warmed them quite nicely.  “We need to move.”

Listening to Zack's sleepy groan, Cloud barely held back a cringe.  He knew it was going to be a long day.

xoxoxox

Sephiroth walked alongside Cloud and Vali. No one commented how he never strayed from his position between Zack and the chocobo.  Zack stared straight ahead, likely pretending Vali didn't exist although Cloud wasn't sure.  He was too busy keeping his eyes looking ahead, too.

Through the course of the morning he learned several things, the first being that apparently tentacles didn't leave long term marks on SOLDIERs.  The second thing he learned was that it was very uncomfortable to think about that while riding on the back of a chocobo.  The third thing he learned was chocobos can--and will--laugh at their rider if they think it necessary.

The final thing Cloud learned was it was possible to fall asleep on the back of a chocobo but that didn't necessarily mean it was a good thing to do.  Even when someone tried to catch you.  Especially when said chocobo hated said friend. The new scratches on Zack's face were also something they didn’t talk about.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cloud saw Zack straighten a little.  The man's face remained impassive, however.  Cloud guessed he didn't want to jar the scratches.  Sephiroth refused to heal them anymore, saying Zack had to learn sometime.  “Hey . . .”

Sephiroth nodded, brilliant eyes forward.  Cloud squinted, only seeing green.  A better sight than earlier but it didn't seem that much better.  “I see it.”

Cloud started to raise himself on the chocobo, but changed his mind when his still sore body protested.  “What is it?”  Was it another monster?

Zack started to grin but stopped himself.  “The Chocobo Ranch.”  He tossed Vali the Evil Eye.  “Time to go home, bucko.”

Sephiroth snorted, but even as odd as that sound was, Cloud didn't react.  Instead, he gently stroked Vali's neck.  Already?

Vali made an odd sound.  It made Cloud smile, but for some reason, it made Zack back up.  Sephiroth took no notice, just heading straight for the chocobo farm.  At least, Cloud thought he was.

Dejection squeezing his heart, Cloud patted the side of Vali's neck and kept riding. What else could he do?

The trip to the farm was made in silence.  The scratches on Zack's face were apparently too sensitive to be jarred too much, as he kept his mouth shut.  Sephiroth seemed focused on the farm and Cloud couldn't bring himself to even attempt normal conversation.  He held one hand on the side of Vali's neck for the rest of the ride, too aware of the softness of his feathers and the warmth of his body.  He tried to convince himself that parting sooner was better than later, anyway: less time to get attached.

It still seemed like stupid logic to him.

Considering it housed creatures like Vali, the farm seemed rather small and unimpressive.  Cloud wrinkled his nose as they approached the farmhouse, taking in the humble buildings.  Vali squawked. Cloud patted his neck in agreement: it was no place for a warbird like him.  Surely Sephiroth saw that, too.

Maybe, just maybe, he could convince Sephiroth of that.  At least to give Vali a home in the Midgar stables or let him run loose.  Any place but here.

Or . . .

A farmhand stepped out of the barn just then, squinting and holding a hand over his eyes to block out the midmorning sun.  Cloud saw him shake his head twice before resuming staring at the party.  Cloud glanced at his companions and gave the man some credit: it wasn't often SOLDIERs came to these parts, nonetheless the General.

“Hey, pal!” Zack called, waving a hand frantically.  To Cloud's secret amusement, for all of Zack's wild gesturing, his expression changed little.  Maybe Sephiroth should have healed Zack a _little_.

Sephiroth said nothing, his eyes oddly focused.  The farmhand said nothing, either, staring wide-out at them.

Wait.  Cloud blinked.  The man wasn't staring at _them_.

As if hearing Cloud's thoughts, the man's gaze swept over the party, then back at the chocobo.  He stared at Sephiroth, the chocobo, and back again at Sephiroth.  “Dad?” the man shouted, his eyes wide.  “You might wanna come out here. Now.”

Bewildered, Cloud glanced at his companions, but Zack and Sephiroth were still walking calmly towards the farmhouse.  Well, mostly calmly, anyway.  The twitch in Zack's right eye couldn't help the pain in his face any, and if Cloud didn't know better, he would swear Sephiroth was smiling a little.  He shrugged to himself.  Lack of sleep, maybe?

An older man that looked frightening similar to the farmhand stepped out of the main house.  This close, Cloud could see the man blatantly stare and then blink.  After a moment, he whistled, stuck his hands in the pockets of his overalls, and glanced at Sephiroth.  “I would've expected you to be riding the chocobo,” he drawled.  “Kid raised by chocobos or something?”

And like that, Cloud's confusion doubled.  Unfortunately for the man, his fury was stronger still.  “Kid?” he snapped, and Vali screeched.  He could feel Vali's feathers bristling under him. If that wasn't the oddest sensation in the world, Cloud didn't know what was.

Zack hastily stepped to one side, but Sephiroth still looked unperturbed.  “His name is Sergeant Cloud Strife,” Sephiroth introduced, “and Vali's new master.”

Only Vali's graceful side-step kept Cloud from falling off.  The older man nodded sagely.  His son sputtered and Cloud wondered if it would ruin Sephiroth's fine introduction if he joined him.

Silence was good, Cloud decided after a moment, holding onto Vali for dear life.  Silence was always a good response.

Sephiroth gestured at the farmhouse.  “May we come in?  We've had a long trip.” 

Fifteen minutes later found Cloud even more confused than before, but since the SOLDIERs seemed relaxed, he smiled and nodded and hid behind a large cup of coffee.  Zack and Sephiroth sat on each side of him. Across the table the two farmers sat, cups of coffee in their own hands.  Cloud’s mind scrambled and gave up when it tried to take in image of the two large warriors sitting at the country table, complete with a gaily patterned table cloth while each cradling a steaming cup.

Never mind the two of them in the homey kitchen anyway.  Yeah.  Cloud gave up on it.

So Vali was a warbird.  Who was previously owned by someone Sephiroth apparently knew.  Who had disappeared after the Wutai war.  Who had been tossed to this ranch like so much refuse.

Actually, Cloud decided he was going to give up on the entire conversation and focus on his coffee.  He hadn’t had any since he originally left Wutai.  Even in Nibelhelm his mother refused to let him have any. That thought hurt more than he thought it would.

Only that sobering memory kept him from snickering when he caught onto the current conversation.  The older rancher was nodding at Zack’s face, unperturbed by the rapid healing.  “Sure, we can loan you some birds, but you have to keep an eye on this one.  Chocobos don’t seem to like this one too much.”

Cloud envied Sephiroth’s straight face.  He resumed hiding behind his cup of coffee.  “I can assure you,” the General said mildly, “that my Second rarely experiences difficulties with chocobo.  Vali is a rare case.”

Vali.  Cloud stared into the depths of his drink, which was rather reminiscent of the oil he had seen dripping out of their old truck.  If he had to wager, he would bet it probably tasted the same.

He still didn’t understand how someone could just toss aside a beautiful bird like Vali.  He knew how he had been treated when he originally joined the military, and that was understandable.  Vali, though . . . it boggled his mind.

Not Zack’s, though.  Just Sephiroth mentioning the chocobo’s name made him twitch, doing wonders for Cloud’s mood.  The younger rancher caught Cloud’s eye and winked. Cloud hastily took a drink.

The rancher shrugged lazily. How many times had he met Sephiroth before now?  “Still couldn’t hurt to have a test run.”

They were discussing Sephiroth’s chocobo and Zack’s chocobo but not Cloud’s.  Cloud had a chocobo.  Cloud had Vali.  He hastily took another drink, the thick, harsh sludge of the coffee keeping him from asking the question on his lips: _Can I really keep him?_

It seemed impossible but . . .

Sephiroth stood. Zack shoved his coffee away and stood, too.  Standing as well, Cloud noticed that only he and the ranchers had touched the coffee.  Huh.

“So let’s go for our test run!” Zack exclaimed, and no one could blame Cloud for stepping behind Sephiroth at that moment.  The gleam in Zack’s eyes right then could frighten even the most stalwart warrior.

Except Sephiroth.  Who only sighed and shook his head.  Almost like an afterthought, he grabbed his cup of coffee and followed Zack outside.  Cloud cautiously followed, with the older rancher, unperturbed as ever, walking behind him. Cloud really couldn’t blame the younger rancher for huddling at the kitchen table.

Walking behind the two men, Cloud noted their straight poses and consciously attempted to mimic it.  The motion felt odd, and he cringed inwardly at the small voice whispering _presumptuous_ in the back of his mind.  Attempting to mimic these two of all people _felt_ that way, but soldiers didn’t walk hunched over like they were protecting their vulnerable stomachs from bullies.  He controlled his breathing, kept his back straight as he followed them to the barn.  Walking like a soldier, walking the way he was taught, wasn’t conceited: it was following orders.

And keeping his chin up kept his eyes from straying.

Much.

Remembering the sounds from the night before, Cloud bit back a whimper.  Now _that_ was presumptuous.

If the rancher noticed, it didn’t seem to bother him.  Hands casually in his pockets, he humped along the grass.  Cloud’s eyes narrowed when the rancher nodded beside the building housing the chocobos, where Vali was giving Zack the Evil Eye.  “With that beauty, you should be a captain ‘fore too much longer.”

Both Zack and Sephiroth whipped around when Cloud stumbled.  Flushed with embarrassment, the blond hurriedly straightened, and calm as ever, the rancher ambled forward.

 “C’mon,” the man shouted, distracting the SOLDIERs from Cloud.  “Let’s introduce you to some of these beauts.”

Coughing quietly and avoiding two pairs of glowing eyes, Cloud strode past the trio to where Vali was patiently waiting.  He had considered going in with the pair, but looking at Vali’s flashing eyes now and thinking of his own embarrassed flush, he decided now would be a good time to groom Vali’s coat.

_“Zackary!_ ”

Outside was also a good place to hide.  Yes.  Vali could definitely use a brushing.

As if he was reading Cloud’s mind, the rancher stepped outside long enough to hand Cloud the materials before quickly entering the building again.  To Cloud’s reluctant amusement, the man’s typical calm was completely gone, his eyes wide and face flushed.

Perhaps Cloud should have told him that experience with SOLDIERs didn’t mean experienced with Zack? He shrugged to himself and smiled when Vali affectionately nuzzled his hair.  Ah well.

Cloud carefully placed his blade to one side before beginning to brush Vali’s feathers, making sure they were clean and even.  He listened over Vali’s contented coos to Zack and the others inside the barn. 

Sephiroth hadn’t raised his voice again, but his tone was definitely scolding.  Cloud thought he heard Zack ordering the chocobos to do something but after a moment fervently decided he was hearing his friend wrong.  He heard the rancher but couldn’t tell what he was saying or doing; Cloud just hoped ducking was involved in there somewhere.

“Do you like staying with me?” Cloud asked quietly, keeping his voice low as possible.  He had no idea how sensitive SOLDIER hearing was and didn’t want them to catch this conversation.  “Are you going to be okay going from a SOLDIER to me?”

Vali stared unblinking at him.  From inside the barn, Cloud could swear he heard Zack saying something about a summon.

“I mean,” he said quickly, “there’s no pressure to stay or anything.  It’s completely your choice.  I understand either way.”

Cloud bit his lip before he could say anything else and focused on Vali’s crest. For some reason, it kept getting fluffed up.

“I can make sure you won’t get tossed aside again, though,” he finished quietly. “Promise.”

Vali chirped and nuzzled his hair. Cloud simply focused on brushing him.

“What the hell - ”

“Don’t even think about it, Zack.”

“Aw, c’mon…”

“ ** _No_** _._ ”

Cloud knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help but smile. Something about Zack had that effect on him.

“Come on, we need to see how they react in a combat situation!”

“Hey!”

“No offense.”

“Zack…”

Cloud leaned forward and rested his forehead against Vali’s beak, feeling the warmth emanating from the chocobo. For a moment – just a moment – it felt like everything was going to be okay.

Thirty minutes and one threat of an early retirement later, Sephiroth and Zack were on their own chocobos beside Cloud. He discreetly decided not to ask why there was a toad in Zack’s hair. Vali kept glaring suspiciously at the other chocobos but, to Cloud’s relief, otherwise kept calm and steady. The rancher stood by the barn doors and glared suspiciously at Zack. Cloud also decided not to ask about the toad peeking out of the collar of his overalls.

If Zack noticed any of the suspicious looks, it wasn’t evident by the way he kept cooing to the female chocobo under him. Ica danced restlessly under Zack, her bright eyes looking everywhere. Norr, Sephiroth’s chocobo, just looked bored.

Rather like Sephiroth did, actually. He sat on the chocobo like the general he was, looking over the grassy fields like it was a battlefield, and Cloud sat a little straighter in response.

“We will return your chocobos as soon as possible,” Sephiroth called to the rancher.

The rancher never looked away from Zack, who never looked away from his chocobo. “Take your time, there’s no rush.”

Cloud knew exactly why there was no rush and he couldn’t help a small smile. He hid it by ducking down and stroking Vali’s neck. He felt the thick muscles there vibrate in response.

Sephiroth nodded formally. Cloud didn’t see him motion or kick his legs, but in the next instant Norr lazily loped forward with Ica immediately on his heels. Vali snorted but, at a gentle nudge from Cloud, moved forward. Cloud stroked his neck.

Cloud’s thighs and back ached, but Vali’s smooth lope relaxed him. In front of him, Zack rambled and flailed but Cloud couldn’t catch the topic, just the familiarity of Zack’s voice. Sephiroth remained a silent and reassuring presence in front of him. Cloud thought he would miss this when they returned to Midgar. Right now seemed as good as it was going to get for him.

And then abruptly it felt like eyes were burning into his back.

Vali squawked when Cloud straightened on his back. Zack and Sephiroth tensed on their own chocobos but, before anyone could react, the feeling was gone.

“Keep riding,” Sephiroth commanded. “Be prepared!”

To defend, to fight, to run. Cloud rested his hand on the side of Vali’s neck and refused to look around. He doubted he would see anything.

“Turks?” Zack asked, his voice barely carrying to Cloud.

Sephiroth shook his head once, a non-answer rather than a negative. Cloud’s mind flashed to a pair of red eyes. Maybe…?

Now it was Cloud’s turn to shake his head. No point in wondering; he just had to ride on.

Zack’s cheerful voice quieted, and the three rode on. The awareness of _other_ scratched at them. Cloud wanted to grab his sword; the back of his neck _itched_.

As the grass began dying, the ground grew rockier. The occasional tree popped up but there wasn’t a single bird on the branches. The _wrongness_ of it permeated the air like smoke.

Cloud’s hand was on the hilt of his sword before Sephiroth even called his warning. The wolves seemed to come out of nowhere, their eyes lit with an ominous glow. Mako-touched.

Ica and Norr screeched their battle cries, but Vali remained silent as the wolves tried to surround them. The three chocobos separated before they had a chance, though, and Cloud gripped Vali’s sides with his thighs, both hands occupied with holding his sword. Around him, Zack and Sephiroth rode with their blades ready and looking like everything Cloud wanted to be.

But that was a distant thought. Cloud’s movements were automatic. Nibelheim’s wolves lacked that glow but these were still wolves. His heart was pounding but it wasn’t like when he was fighting the zoloms. The environment was different, the attacks were different, but they were _wolves_. Vali felt strong and secure under him, adding to his confidence.

The wolves were fast, definitely faster than Nibel wolves, and if Cloud were on foot he knew he would be dead. However, with Vali’s speed added to his own, Cloud easily stayed away from the wolves’ snapping jaws. Vali danced out of their reach before lunging back with his sharp claws.  Cloud lashed out with his blade, slicing one wolf’s throat. The other wolves didn’t pause, still relentlessly trying to circle Cloud. Another thing that made these wolves different from Nibel wolves: they didn’t care about the pack.

Cloud glanced periodically at Zack and Sephiroth. The wolves were child’s play for the powerful pair, only the wolves’ speed and numbers prolonging the fight. The trees were beginning to thicken around them, though, Cloud noted.

“They’re driving us into the woods!” Cloud shouted. Vali side-stepped quickly to avoid one wolf, and Cloud tightened his grip with his knees. “It’s a trap!”

Both Zack and Sephiroth caught his eye and nodded. Suddenly both Norr and Ica were plunging towards Cloud and the wolves around Cloud scattered at the approach of the new combatants.

Cloud had a bad feeling about this. The wolves weren’t interested in eating; they were interested in killing. Their eyes glowed cold and malicious. This wasn’t a case of accidental mako exposure: something was seriously wrong with these wolves.

But Zack and Sephiroth were strong beside him as they rode to a better vantage point. Vali was strong under him, strides smooth and sure. Even with the wolves chasing them – a dozen or more, Cloud’s mind noted – snarling and snapping, _Cloud_ felt strong.

It was a strange feeling.

The ground sloped; they were getting close to Midgar. The trees dispersed and the grass slowly died. Still, the wolves didn’t stop. Cloud knew they would follow the trio all the way to Midgar if given a chance.

So Cloud decided not to give them the choice.

Cloud glanced at Zack and met his friend’s violet eyes. Zack only nodded. Cloud never saw Zack catch Sephiroth’s attention, but it didn’t matter as the three chocobos scattered as if on some invisible cue. Cloud heard a wolf howl and knew the fight was back on.

The wolves’ dark coats camouflaged with the dead earth beneath them, but it was easy to find their glowing yellow eyes. Cloud and Vali moved easily through them, sword and claws constantly in motion. Without looking, Cloud knew Zack was on his left and Sephiroth on his right. The wolves didn’t flank them: they flanked the wolves.

A large wolf leaped over two of its own, aiming for Vali’s throat. Vali clamped onto it with his beak. While Vali held it still, suspended for one endless moment in midair, Cloud cut it down.

Even as Cloud twisted to face a wolf on his right, he felt unfamiliar eyes on him. _Turks!_ His mind flashed to the Turks’ wide eyes when he killed Hojo right in front of them, the suspicion of the SOLDIERs even _before_ the disaster of Nibelheim.

When he spared one eye to look, it wasn’t the analytical gaze of the Turks that met his: it was three SOLDIERs’.

Instincts took over, keeping Cloud from faltering. Vali never slowed so Cloud automatically kept to the same pace, alternating between dodging and fighting. Zack and Sephiroth kept closer to him as the wolves numbers dwindled. The remaining wolves, however, were more cautious, relentless but warier of the sharp-edged weapons.

Then the three SOLDIERs plunged forward, their chocobos swift even with their full battle gear. Cloud couldn’t help but tense on Vali’s back as the SOLDIERS easily finished off the remaining wolves. They were swift and graceful and strong, and Cloud’s former feeling of strength vanished. _That_ was strong.

Sephiroth and Zack rode to rest on either side of Cloud, helping his confidence a little. The three SOLDIERS stopped in front of the trio, and it was only Sephiroth and Zack beside him that kept the blonde from shrinking back. The SOLDIERS were staring at him.

_Should I say something? Should I do anything?_

Fortunately for Cloud, Zack had it covered. “Sorry we’re late,” he said cheerfully. “Had a couple problems on the road. What did we miss?”

Sephiroth sighed and the SOLDIERS looked away from Cloud. Cloud finally relaxed. “That’s what we should be asking,” one of the SOLDIERS commented. Glowing green eyes flicked towards Cloud; Cloud tensed again. He felt Vali tense under him in response. “We received an update from the guys stationed in Wutai but it appears they left some things out.”

Vali made a whirring noise. The other five chocobos stiffened as Cloud casually stroked his neck.

All of the SOLDIERS’ eyes were back on Cloud as Zack broke the tension again. “I guess you’ve heard of our new sergeant, Cloud Strife,” Zack continued. “If you thought him with the wolves was neat, you should have seen him with the zoloms. That was pure poetry in motion.”

Now it was Cloud’s turn to stare in disbelief at Zack, but Zack didn’t stop talking. “Cloud, this is Lt. Stepplin, Lt. Bala and Cpt. Jergin. They were sent out from Midgar.”

The one with the green eyes nodded. He dwarfed his yellow chocobo, but the bird seemed to hold his weight as well as the weight of all the gear easily enough. Still, Cloud was grateful Vali didn’t have to worry about carrying so much.

“We’re here to ensure there’s no… complications,” Green eyes – Cloud thought he was Jergin – explained. His voice was a smooth, soothing bass but it didn’t calm Cloud. “The Turks have been very quiet.”

Quiet Turks were never a good thing. If Cloud knew nothing else, he knew that.

A tall redhead – Cloud guessed Stepplin – looked at the corpses of the wolves. “Nothing else has been quiet, though,” Stepplin observed wryly. “The desert has been nearly over run by these beasts.”

Like Cloud knew about the Turks, he knew Stepplin wasn’t talking about the wolves themselves. Again, he found himself stroking Vali’s neck.

“We felt it best if SOLDIERS escorted you back into Midgar,” Jergin continued calmly. To his left, the last SOLDIER – Bala – studied the wolves. He poked one’s flank with his sword. “We are also willing to escort you to your brief with President Shinra.”

Another conversation within a conversation. Cloud wondered if this had to do with the Turks and Hojo’s death. Had he created complications? Maybe this had to do with Nibelheim. Would Sephiroth get in trouble? What was the president going to do? Cloud nervously kept stroking Vali’s neck as the bird chirped.

“Your assistance is appreciated,” Sephiroth said quietly. “Have you heard of Nibelheim?”

Cloud felt like his muscles would rip from his bones if he tensed any more. Perhaps it wasn’t the president he had to worry about.

But Jergin’s voice was still calm when he spoke again. “Yes,” Jergin said. For some reason, he looked at Cloud again. “Hojo is dead then?”

Now all eyes were on Cloud. He wanted to shrink back.

Zack’s voice was darkly satisfied when he spoke again, though. “Yes.”

Jergin nodded, and Bala turned back to the wolf’s body. Stepplin was the one who spoke. “About damned time. We’re still cleaning up his mess, the bastard.”

Bala rolled the wolf over with his boot. “The Turks we do see don’t leave Hojo’s floors.”

Hojo Hojo Hojo Hojo. Cloud realized he was gritting his teeth and forced himself to stop. If he had had time to think, Hojo’s death definitely would have gone differently.

Zack hummed as Ica danced under him. “We have a lot of work to do, don’t we?"

Sephiroth frowned even as the other Soldiers nodded in agreement. Cloud swallowed.

Their journey was over. Zack and Sephiroth were reunited with the SOLDIERS. Cloud was just the SOLDIER reject again.

Cloud stroked Vali’s neck. He would keep his promise to Vali, though, no matter what happened.

Sephiroth and Norr moved forward. “We need to move now. It’ll be night soon.”

There was another round of nods as the three new SOLDIERS moved back so Sephiroth could ride forward. Cloud tried to hang back, but Zack only gestured for him to get moving. Sephiroth rode forward only several steps before stopping and looking over his shoulder at Cloud. His expression was curious, and flustered, Cloud rode forward. Zack only moved when Cloud stopped behind Sephiroth. Zack rode just in front of him, with Bala next to him and the other two keeping to the back. Cloud guessed they were keeping the weakest link in the middle; it was the only reason Cloud could discern why he wasn’t riding behind the officers.

“Why aren’t you in SOLDIER?” Bala asked as soon as they started riding.

Cloud started. What? “I don’t know, Sir. They never told me.” Practice kept the bitterness from his voice. Cloud had always known he was a failure, but he wouldn’t have minded something specific.

_Or maybe it wasn’t something specific_ , a small voice whispered. _Maybe it was everything_.

Cloud told that voice to shut up.

“Another thing we have to do,” Stepplin called from behind. “Pull up SGT Strife’s file. Something’s not right there.”

“Agreed,” Sephiroth said as Cloud remained silent. He had no idea what they meant. Another conversation within a conversation, he guessed, because his failure sounded right to him.

Suddenly depressed, Cloud rode quietly behind Sephiroth. The closer they moved to Midgar, the darker everything grew. Cloud felt it was only fitting.

Bala rode silently beside him, his curiosity apparently satisfied. Cloud heard Zack’s voice but not Sephiroth’s, and Stepplin and Jergin conversed softly behind him. Cloud focused on the rising city before him.

When he had initially failed the test, Cloud had known he could never go home. Now Cloud knew that Midgar truly was his only option. Nibelheim, his mother, everything was lost in the ruins. Now it wasn’t just pride shutting that door; it was sealed shut forever. His failure to make SOLDIER had sealed so many more doors.

Cloud thought of his mother, how he occasionally heard whispers about how she had been so vibrant when his father was alive, how she occasionally became alive when remembering the past before fading away again. Would he become like that? What future awaited him? Unless you were a SOLDIER or businessman, there was no future in Shinra.

“How did you do for your Mako sensitivity test?” Bala asked abruptly. Cloud started. Why did he keep doing that?

Well, as a SOLDIER, it was his right, Cloud thought ruefully. “I don’t remember,” Cloud admitted. “And they never told me.”

Zack stopped his one-sided conversation to glance sharply at Cloud. “This is the first I’ve heard of that.”

Cloud shrugged. “You were on assignment in Junon.”

Bala hummed before falling silent again. Cloud stared at him out of the corner of his eye. Would he have another random question?

“What do you mean you don’t remember?” Zack pressed. “Just not memorable or something?”

Another shrug. “I guess.”

Sephiroth gave him a sharp look, and Cloud looked away, skin itching. What did it matter? None of it mattered, especially when they reached Midgar.

Midgar…

Cloud wondered why, after living at Hel’s Gate for years, he now felt like he was entering the land of the dead.

Thus the group entered into Midgar.

 


	7. Chapter 7

For the first time in Cloud Strife’s life, he was grateful for his less than impressive height. Growing up, his short stature had made him a terrific target, giving lie to the belief that bigger targets were better targets. When he tried to join ShinRa, the sergeants in charge of recruiting laughed at him. Only sheer persistence kept him from being run off. His mother had occasionally mentioned his father’s height, how tall he was; it only convinced Cloud that he would inherit his mother’s diminutive height as well as her uncontrollable blonde hair.

At the moment, though, Cloud was grateful for the fact that he “wasn’t even as tall as a baby chocobo.” It allowed him to hide amongst Sephiroth, Zack, and the other SOLDIERs, imperceptible as the group walked through ShinRa’s corridors.

Maybe it was the fact that Sephiroth led the group. Maybe it was the mesmerizing image of a group of SOLDIERs striding so purposefully down the hall. Maybe it was just his own paranoia. Whatever it was, it felt like all eyes were on them. Scurrying assistants paused in their tasks, and the glowing gaze of the occasional SOLDIER felt like someone had cast Gravity on him. He wondered if he was imagining the dagger-sharp gazes of the Turks, a result of overhearing the fervent whispers of the SOLDIERs when Cloud had led a wary Vali into a chocobo stall.

Perhaps he should be more nervous about Vali surrounded by a bunch of strangers than this upcoming meeting with the president.

The silence scratched at Cloud’s nerves. Even non-SOLDIERs felt it, based on how quickly they fled the area. Sephiroth swept past them, shoulders stiff and head tall. The rest of the SOLDIERs followed at his heels, his loyal, deadly pack, and Cloud stumbled amidst them like a lame stray mutt. He felt too hot, as if he was back in Nibelheim again, the burning ruins of his past scorching his skin. In contrast, his face felt too cold, cold and still, like a mask covered his too-sensitive skin.

Later, Cloud wouldn’t even be able to explain it to himself what made him turn his head then. His breath caught at the same exact moment Sephiroth’s head snapped in that direction. The General’s eyes flashed.

Cloud bit the inside of his cheek as the SOLDIERs slowed, Zack’s face showing his blatant curiosity. As Bala, Jergin, and Stepplin followed Sephiroth’s gaze, Zack raised an eyebrow at Cloud. Cloud shrugged, even as he grinned on the inside.

Without a doubt, Vincent Valentine was now in the building…unless someone else had those same crimson eyes. In that case, Cloud really, really did not want to know.

The only question was _why_.

Sephiroth caught Cloud’s gaze for a brief moment. Not quite sure what the inquiry was in those eyes, Cloud shook his head. That seemed enough of a response, because Sephiroth nodded and lengthened his strides once more.

In doing so, he reminded Cloud why he always wanted longer legs.

Biting back a sigh, Cloud hurried his steps. Maybe if the rest of ShinRa had Sephiroth’s sense of urgency, things would actually get _done_.

Fifteen minutes later, Cloud was wondering if President ShinRa had ever _heard_ of urgency before Sephiroth had come along.

When the group had stepped into the president’s extravagant office, President ShinRa didn’t seem to notice the SOLDIERs standing at attention in front of his desk, nor the lowly sergeant trying to huddle behind them. (He really missed his helmet.) Instead, ShinRa stared with wide eyes at the giggling blonde perched on his desk. Cloud kept his face carefully blank as the president’s face jiggled in time with his laugh.

“Sir.” Only the edge in Sephiroth’s tone implied this was more than a polite meeting. Standing straight and tall, he reminded Cloud of the Masamune. The comparison seemed fitting.

The blonde looked at Sephiroth and paled. Cloud wondered what she saw. With a squeak, she scrambled off the desk. Grunting, the president straightened. His stomach jiggled as much as his face did.

“General!” ShinRa greeted as if he were meeting a long-lost friend rather than a simmering SOLDIER. ShinRa looked away from Sephiroth to wink at his companion. She blushed, adding some color to her still pale cheeks. She winked back before sashaying out of the room. She never looked back.. “I’ve been expecting you.”

Standing in front of the president of the largest corporation on the Planet, Cloud expected to feel terrified…or at least nervous. Now, though, staring at President ShinRa, Cloud only felt numb. The last…how long was it?…felt like a dream. Now should have been waking up, but it was like he was standing outside of it, watching.

Suddenly he wanted to be back in Nibelheim so badly it _hurt…_ except there was nothing there anymore.

“Sir,” Sephiroth repeated, yielding nothing, and the other SOLDIERs remained silent. Zack being so quiet and still strengthened the dreamy feeling.

The president’s eyes focused on Cloud, the expression suspiciously familiar. “First,” ShinRa announced, and Cloud remembered where he saw that look before, “we need _privacy_ for this matter.” He said ‘privacy’ like the kids in Nibelheim used to, and the sheer inanity of it almost broke through Cloud’s numbness. Cloud was just some bug under his shoe.

To his surprise, ShinRa’s tone rolled off him like rain over a chocobo’s feathers. So did the feeling of eyes on his back and the realization that the Turks were now in the room.

Cloud began to move, polite words on frozen lips, only to realize he had nowhere to go. No one around him budged an inch.

Again Sephiroth spoke, the edge back in his voice. “He stays,” he said quietly. “Sir.”

If the gaze of a SOLDIER was Gravity, the Turks were Ice--as silent and cold and deadly as a Nibelheim winter. Cloud didn’t dare move. The SOLDIERs remained equally still. Did the president knew just how many predators were in the room now?

The president studied them for a moment, and in that moment, Cloud saw the glitter in his eyes that made ShinRa the most powerful man on the Planet. Oh yes. ShinRa knew. Then ShinRa guffawed, and the moment was gone. “If you wish, General,” ShinRa agreed. He gestured with a wave of his arm that would have been imperious coming from anyone else. “I believe you owe me a mission report.”

For all the insistence on Cloud’s continuing presence, Cloud didn’t do anything besides stand at attention for the rest of the meeting. For that matter, neither did anyone else. Even Zack remained still and quiet, but Cloud could see the gleam of his eyes at the corner of his vision..

His back ached, but he didn’t dare move to massage it. He barely dared to blink. Every bit of Cloud’s attention was focused on the strange dance of words between Sephiroth and ShinRa. ShinRa never lost his congenial tone, and Sephiroth never lost his bitten off sentences. It was like watching two chess players in actions as the conversation--discussion? report?--moved from the town’s destruction to Hojo’s death to their trip back to Midgar. It was only that focus that kept Cloud from bristling at ShinRa’s blitheness over Nibelheim’s fate. ShinRa was philosophical about Hojo’s death, but Cloud noticed the gleam in the man’s eyes. When Sephiroth ended with a curt, “Sir,” Cloud’s head throbbed.

ShinRa’s eyes flickered over the gathered group of SOLDIERs, and then he glanced behind them where Cloud could still sense the Turks. The president nodded once; another silent conversation flew over his head. Then the man clapped his hands and grinned jovially. “I’m sure you must all be exhausted from your trip! You may, of course, return to your quarters and rest for the time being. Your new orders will be issued to your later. General Sephiroth, I expect a typed report on my desk by the end of the week.”

Ow. Cloud flinched inwardly in sympathy. Sephiroth, however, didn’t blink. “Sir.”

Before Sephiroth, Cloud had never known how much could be relayed in one word. He had to admit, he was impressed.

He also didn’t realize how creepy a smile could be before meeting the president. “And, of course, our new sergeant will need new quarters. Don’t forget to include that in your paperwork, General.”

Cloud didn’t understand why the tension abruptly ratcheted up in the room. The pain in his back forgotten, he stood a little straighter, intensely aware of his blade on his back. He was just as aware of the Turks at his back, too.

However, Sephiroth simply replied, “Sir.”

xoxoxox

Zack offered to walk with Cloud back to his barracks, but the blond saw the weariness in his friend’s eyes and waved him off with a smile. _Just a shower_ , he assured him. _Just going to go to bed_.

Except Cloud hadn’t expected the curious gazes, the suspicious glares. His squad was gone, he learned in short, curt spurts. A _real_ mission.

What had he missed? What had the rumors been while he was gone?

Unease roiling in his gut, Cloud pulled a clean uniform from his locker--miraculously untouched--and headed for the showers. He could feel the glares but no one impeded his path. Cloud was too tired to care.

The showers were empty, and Cloud told himself to be grateful that soldiers rarely showered in the middle of the day. He started washing his hair, startled at the sheer amount of filth pouring from it.

Well, he had been in the field for…what? Days? Weeks?

Had he truly been gone that long?

Cloud never felt his knees hit the floor. He stared at the dark water roiling down the drain. Dirt and green gunk he guessed from the swamp and who knows what else, all gathered since they left Wutai. Before that, his only shower was in Nibelheim mansion.

The only place in Nibelheim that hadn’t gone up in flames.

His next breath caught in his throat. Then the next. And the next. He thought he was going to throw up but he could only gasp raggedly.

By Hel…Nibelheim.

Cloud coughed wetly, feeling his eyes burn. NibelheimNibelheimNibelheimNibelheimNibelheim. He couldn’t _think_ beyond that, his thoughts a whirl of blood and flames and glowing green. He doubled over, shaking under the weak spray.

Wutai, the crash, SephirothZackHojo _everything_ circled around Nibelheim’s burning corpse like a twisted dream. Cloud struggled to breathe but swore he smelled smoke.

… _Mom_.

Cloud had no idea how long he kneeled that, weeping and wheezing pathetically, before a familiar-smelling crimson cloak wrapped around his naked shoulders.

“Come,” Vincent Valentine said quietly. “You don’t need to be in public for this.”

Cloud didn’t recall getting dressed or even leaving the showers. One moment Vincent was helping him to his feet, warm cloak still wrapped around Cloud’s shoulders, and the next they were on top of ShinRa tower, nestled neatly in the shadows with the ground far, far below. Vincent sat beside him, cloak blowing in the cool wind.

His eyes felt raw, _he_ felt raw, like the shower had burned something way. Embarrassed, too, the realization that Vincent dragged him naked from the _showers_ seeping into him. Cloud ducked his head, but Vincent didn’t look his way. Instead, he focused on Midgar stretched out under them.

“Hojo’s treachery lives on,” Vincent said. …what?

“What?’

Vincent stared at Midgar’s dim shine. “Hojo’s machinations were caught too late. Your friends’ new curse is a sign of this.”

Cloud bristled. What could he say, though? What could he call in? Besides, Vincent’s warning was clear: Zack and Sephiroth were still in danger.

“Jenova?” Cloud guessed.

Vincent nodded, the motion graceful in a way Cloud wished he could emulate. “Partly. I do not know Jenova’s full threat.”

Jenova. Always back to Jenova…and the horror hidden by Nibelheim’s fire. What _was_ Jenova? What was Hojo _doing?_

“I do know that the president was concerned with Hojo’s progress,” Vincent continued after a moment. “Be wary.”

The president…?

The Turks.

Cloud stiffened. Vincent looked at him. Apparently he agreed with what he saw, because he nodded.

“Be wary,” he repeated, eyes appearing to glow in the dark. “More experienced warriors than you have fallen to this threat.”

Was Vincent one of them? Who else? Cloud kept those questions to himself. He only nodded.

There was nothing else to be said. The pair sat in silence, watching the sun set in a bright splash of colors over the dead land.

Later, Cloud didn’t ask to where Vincent vanished. They nodded their good-byes and Vincent disappeared into the shadows. Cloud returned to his barracks.

Suspicious glares didn’t meet him this time; oddly enough, Cloud would have felt better if they had. Anything better than the wide-eyed looks of terror that greeted him. He kept one wary hand ready to snatch up his blade if need be. The other soldiers scurried out of his way, much like everyone had practically run away from the SOLDIERs, earlier.

More rumors? Great. Just what he needed.

Cloud stepped into the room he shared with three other members of his squad, stopped, and blinked. It was possible that it wasn’t rumors this time around. It was entirely possible that everyone’s reactions had everything to do with the incensed SOLDIER pacing in front of Cloud’s bunk.

“Zack?” Cloud asked, not sure why he was surprised. After all, it _was_ Zack, and Zack always used to visit him…before. Cloud blinked. Why did he keep expecting everything to be different?

Zack whirled around at the sound of Cloud’s voice. Cloud blinked again. Zack must have been very distracted if he hadn’t heard Cloud come in. That worried Cloud more than a little.

“Cloud!" Zack said, reaching him with three long strides. “Where have you been?” Zack's legs were oh-so-slightly blurred around the edges, doing nothing to ease Cloud's nervousness. Cloud rested a soothing hand on his friend's shoulder, keeping a wary eye on Zack's legs.

Cloud opened his mouth to answer, then froze. What could he say? “I was out with Mr. Valentine”?

Fortunately, Zack was already moving forward. “Never mind,” he dismissed, waving a hand. “Look, we already got you a new room. It’s close to Seph and me. We just need you to finish packing up so we could leave.”

Cloud blinked. Then blinked again. He stepped away from Zack to collapse on his bunk. “What?”

Zack plopped beside him. Unlike Cloud, he had to duck a little to keep from hitting his head on the top bunk. His right leg kept bouncing until Cloud grabbed his knee. “Remember? You’re in the NCO barracks now.”

Cloud stared at him. “I didn’t think that was going to be for a while yet,” he protested weakly.

Zack shrugged, but the hard set of his mouth gave him away. “No reason to keep you here longer than necessary,” he countered. “Do you need help packing your stuff?”

Cloud just stared at him until he noticed the twitching under his hand was getting worse. He shook his head a little, aware of Zack’s growing frown. “Hey, Cloud…”

The blond sighed inwardly as something changed yet again, just when he thought almost everything would be back to normal.. Just…one foot in front of the other. Keep going and all that. So it was a change in rooms. Big deal, right?

Summoning a smile, Cloud stood up. “Nah, I can get it. Am I on the same floor as you guys, then?”

xoxoxox

All right, so Cloud knew it would be different. Sergeants were different, higher rank and all that. Logic dictated that higher rank equaled different room.

It didn’t say that Cloud was going to get his own room.

He swallowed and dropped his duffle on the floor. As if indifferent to Cloud’s dazed expression, Zack walked past him, carrying Cloud’s other duffle over his shoulder. The fact that his personal possessions could fit into two duffle bags never seemed so pathetic until this moment.

“We’re right down the hall,” Zack said, falling on Cloud’s new bed with a thud. Like the rest of the room, it was twice the size of the one at Cloud’s old home. By Hel, the closet was over twice the size of his locker back in his barracks! "Sephiroth’s making you a keycard so you have access to his rooms at any time."  
  
Cloud really hoped Zack didn't hear his squeak. If the older man had, he graciously didn't show it. Forcing himself to swallow back the other embarrassing noises, Cloud stumbled over to the bed and plopped beside Zack. "I-I probably don't need a keycard or anything," Cloud assured him. He could already imagine what that would cause. Enough privates, especially outside of his platoon, thought the only reason Cloud was still in the military was because he was sleeping with Zack.  
  
Except Cloud was no longer grouped with the privates.  
  
Except Cloud was no longer with his _platoon_.  
  
Was he still with his platoon? Was he in a different platoon? Would he be put in a commanding position? Was it such a terrible thing to miss Nibel Mt. so badly? Would Zack laugh at him if he told him that?  
  
Actually, Zack was beginning to look worried. Was he saying all this out loud?  
  
"Cloud," Zack said cautiously. "You might want to breathe."  
  
Or it could just be that he was holding his breath.  
  
Cloud exhaled in a long whoosh and fell back on the mattress; it was softer than what was in his old barracks. He should have known ShinRa would be stingy even with their mattresses.  
  
"Hey, Cloud." Zack settled down beside him, shifting so he was resting on his elbow. His eyes glowed brightly in the yellow light of the room. "C'mon. Calm down. It'll be okay. This should be a piece of cake after all the stuff we‘ve seen you do."  
  
Cloud stared in disbelief at him, not bothering to respond. Zack smiled sheepishly. "Well, maybe not a _total_ piece of cake."  
  
Cloud shook his head and closed his eyes. "What's going to happen now? I mean, I don't know..."  
  
Zack's warm hand covered his mouth. Cloud held himself still, ashamed by the near-overwhelming urge to lick his palm. A distant part of Cloud's mind wondered if Zack's flesh and tentacles tasted the same.  
  
And everyone always wondered why he didn't share his thoughts.  
  
"Don't over-think this, Cloud," Zack said gently. "Everything's going to change, I'll give you that. But this is a team effort. You're not alone. Me and Seph’s gonna to be right behind you." Cloud heard the laughter soften Zack's voice. "And so will most of SOLDIER. Everyone already knows who it was that killed Hojo."  
  
Even Zack's hand didn't fully muffle Cloud's groan. "Thm goma kimm me."  
  
Cloud opened his eyes in time to see Zack blink. "Whatta?"  
  
Cloud rolled his eyes, and Zack shrugged, grinning, before removing his hand. "They're going to kill me," he announced. "President ShinRa knows what I did and I'm going to just go to lunch one day and I'm not even going to see them coming and I'm just going to end up like--"  
  
Zack's hand returned to Cloud's mouth. "It's not going to be like that," he said sternly. "Cloud--Cloud, are you listening?"  
  
Well, it was kinda hard to pay attention to what Zack was saying when Cloud had accidentally licked Zack's palm. For some reason, the man tasted like chocolate. Cloud resisted the urge to lick Zack's hand again.  
  
Zack's violet eyes narrowed, and Cloud stared up at him. Zack...Zack was a lot closer than Cloud had originally thought he was. Zack...was incredibly close. And on Cloud's bed. And he was leaning over Cloud, so close that Cloud could feel his body heat all along his side.  
  
Cloud sucked in a breath, and Zack stilled.  
  
"Cloud?" Zack murmured, and Cloud just looked at him. He tried to swallow again, but it was hard with Zack's hand on his mouth. "Hey--"  
  
A sharp rap on the door sent Zack tumbling backwards, and Cloud sucked in a frantic breath. What just happened?  
  
"Cloud," Sephiroth called. Cloud forced himself to clear his throat.  
  
"Ah, come in, Sir.” …should he call him Sir? Sephiroth? General?

Had Zack been about to kiss him?

He shook his head. Apparently, he wasn't as over his little breakdown as he thought.

Cloud succeeded in swallowing as Sephiroth stepped into the room. The long-haired man raised an eyebrow at the pair sprawled on the bed and the two carelessly discarded duffels. Zack bounced up from the mattress like he was on springs, and Cloud couldn't help but notice that the glow in his eyes was brighter than before.  
  
"Am I--" Sephiroth began.  
  
"Hey, Seph," Zack said cheerfully, his emotions too sharp, too bright, in the sterile room. "You're early." As if aware of what he had just said, Zack's bright mood vanished. "Did something happen? What's wrong?"  
  
Cloud hoped that Sephiroth would raise an eyebrow again and make a comment about Zack's swift pessimism. When he didn't, Cloud's heart sank. Sephiroth's mouth tightened.  
  
"This isn't a safe place to discuss this," was all he said. He glanced at Cloud. "Do you have time to come to my office?"  
  
The question was too polite for Cloud to interpret it as anything but a thinly veiled order. Cloud tried to smile, but he knew it probably came off as more of a grimace. "Yes, sir."  
  
For the first time since he knocked on the door, Sephiroth smiled a little. "Cloud? It's Sephiroth to you."  
  
Cloud couldn't help but smile back, just as he couldn't help but notice that the tension in Zack's broad shoulders never fully faded. He couldn't ask now, though, especially seeing as Sephiroth was already sweeping back out of the room. Zack didn't look at Cloud before following. Like a dog on a leash, Cloud followed.  
  
There were so many things flying above his head it was a miracle his blond hair hadn't been accidentally shaved yet.

Cloud supposed he would have to get used to other soldiers whispering and staring at this rate. Following two high-ranking, legendary SOLDIERs definitely drew eyes. Even if they were used to seeing Cloud with Zack, seeing Zack with Sephiroth made him _different_ , no longer the man who hung out with Cloud on a regular basis but an actual _SOLDIER_. Cloud was so used to seeing the pair together now that he had not thought of it before, but he supposed it made sense.

Cloud shook off those thoughts. Well, he supposed, he was just going to have to suck it up for the time being. After all, how long could this arrangement possibly last?  
  
Sephiroth led them to his office. Cloud barely managed to hide a cringe at the sheer amount of paperwork piled on Sephiroth's desk. How much of it was related to their mission and how much of it was sheer ShinRa nonsense? _How many rolls of toilet paper were used on this mission? How many were wasted as compared to how many were actually used?_  
  
He coughed in his hand to hide his laugh. There was no reason to make the pair think he had finally cracked.  
  
No, he had taken care of that in the shower earlier.  
  
And it finally occurred to him that Vincent had seen him hysterical _and_ naked.

Wow, now was a really bad time for that to sink in.

"Cloud?" Zack asked, concerned, as he perched on the corner of Sephiroth's desk. "Are you okay? You're kinda flushed."

Cloud forced a smile. "Yeah, just..." He cleared his throat. "Ah, nothing. Yeah."

Zack squinted at him, but Sephiroth was already sitting down. His sharp green eyes darted back and forth between the pair for a moment before he moved on. Grabbing a sheaf of paper, Sephiroth straightened in his chair.

"While we were...occupied...in Nibelheim, it would appear as if several scientists vanished from ShinRa's labs," he announced, and Cloud sucked in a breath. On the desk, Zack stiffened and stared at Sephiroth. Apparently this was an update for him, too. "Several SOLDIERs are already attempting to search through Hojo's files, but it would appear as if many of Hojo's hard copies have vanished from the labs. The Turks, too, are attempting to search. At the time being, it is unsure if they are searching based on the president's orders or the vice-president's."  
  
Cloud's mind snapped back to Wutai. "Rufus ShinRa," he said aloud.  
  
The shiver returned to Zack's legs. "Daddy's just greedy," he said grimly. "Rufus can be downright malicious. He's been primarily raised by the Turks, who make a living scaring others into submission. The president can also be distracted. Rufus is notoriously single-minded."  
  
Nodding, Sephiroth glanced at several papers. "Other reactors are also being searched in case they are hiding similar secrets to Nibel's reactor. However, it is believed that nothing will be found. Nibel's reactor is the only one with a building like the mansion close by. Hojo probably relied on that site for his experiments."  
  
It was sheer will that kept Cloud steady. He thought back to his father and his mother's stories of him. He bit his lip, trying to remember. Unfortunately, when his mother generally referred to his dad, it was in reference to the legends and myths the pair shared.  
  
Cloud wondered what his father saw, protecting Hojo and Hojo's fellow scientists. What secrets had he taken with him to his grave?

He wrapped his arms around himself. His mother had been so excited when she received the letter saying he was coming home. She had been _so_ excited...

"Cloud?" Zack called, and Cloud gave himself a good shake, focusing on the present. Both SOLDIERs were studying him, and he smiled weakly back.

"Just..." Cloud shook his head. They would know more about the mansion than he would, surely. "Nothing. Are there more monsters around the other reactors like Nibelheim?"

Sephiroth's small, approving smile caused a warm thrill to race up Cloud's spine. Sephiroth glanced at the papers in his hands again. "The monster population seems to be on the rise, but so far, the highest rates seem to be around Midgar and around the reactor."

Wait... Cloud pursed his lips in a frown. "We were all around the reactor," he protested. "The dragons seemed normal. So did the wolves. So where were the monsters?"

Both SOLDIERs froze. Zack's wide eyes darted between the two. "By Odin," he breathed. "Cloud has a point."

Sephiroth didn't look up from the paperwork, leafing through the sheets. "They were all located on the higher points of the mountain," he read. "Behind the reactor. The reactor..." He paused, lips flattening to a hard line. "There's nothing reporting any details concerning the reactor's location itself. There isn't even any information concerning the Mako flow of the mountain."

Zack hummed, swinging his legs. For a long moment, besides the humming, no one spoke. It was so quiet that Cloud could hear the noise of the city outside Sephiroth's impressive window. However, he barely noticed the view or the noise.

"I thought..." he said slowly. "I thought Nibelheim had a high ratio of Mako compared to many of the other sites. I think Zack told me that." Cloud frowned in confusion at Zack. "How would you tell me that if it’s the information isn’t readily available?"  
  
Zack's legs never stopped moving. His heavy boots thudded gently against the desk. Sephiroth said nothing to stop him. Cloud wondered what his legs were doing _under_ the desk.

"It was open information at the time," Zack explained. He scowled, the light in his eyes growing in intensity. "Why is it classified now?"

Sephiroth stared at the papers. Cloud didn't know if his legs were moving, but he knew the rest of the General was motionless.

 _Predator or prey_?

Sephiroth had been both in Nibelheim. Cloud wondered bleakly if all the SOLDIERs fit that description now.  
  
"The Turks would know," Sephiroth murmured. "But they'll never talk. I'm not sure if they would share all of their intelligence with Rufus and how much died with Hojo."

He spoke of Hojo's death calmly, without inflection, and Cloud wondered if he could do the same in his place. Then he wondered if he wondered too damned much. Maybe that explained his oft-times sleeplessness.

Or maybe it was the fear that a Turk would kill him while he slept.

He was beginning to miss being a grunt.

Zack straightened and kicked his legs out in front of him. "Not much we can do about that," he announced. "Our best SOLDIERs are scouring the system now. If there's anything left to find, they'll find it."

Cloud licked his lips and nodded. He didn't bother voicing his thoughts. The SOLDIERs had probably already thought this out.

But really, how much would a paranoid man like Hojo keep on the system?

He sighed and shook his head. Scientists missing since Nibelheim...was that before or after Hojo's death?

Their little meeting didn't last long after that. When Sephiroth began to talk to Zack about paperwork, Cloud quietly excused himself and left.

He intended to go back to his room, but his feet carried him past that doorway. They carried him past the SOLDIERs and troopers and staring eyes and out onto Midgar's streets. Cloud kept walking, uncaring of where he was going, only knowing that he had to get away from all of the intrigue, if only for a moment.

When Zack had told Cloud that the next mission was in Nibelheim, Cloud had been focused on failing SOLDIER and facing his mother as that failure. Now everything had grown so much darker, so much deeper, and he hated his old self for that selfish naiveté. Even if he hadn't known, things were simple back then. Cloud had never expected to be embroiled in something like this. He had never expected anything to come from his life at all. He had fully expected to live his life hiding behind that damned trooper's helmet.

It wasn't like anyone in Nibelheim would have been surprised. Only two ever expected anything from Cloud anyway: his mother and—

Cloud paused in the middle of Midgar's bustling streets. "Tifa," he said aloud, oblivious to the curious stares he received. Tifa...she had survived. With everything that had happened, he had completely forgotten about her.

Biting his lip, he shoved his hands in his pockets and kept walking. It wasn't just him involved in this. It wasn't just about _him_ , so he needed to knock off his self-pitying attitude. His mother - and the other villagers - were dead. Tifa...who knew where she was, what she was doing. Cloud knew she would land on her feet, but still...

Cloud was so lost in his thoughts it took him a moment to realized he was being followed. He didn't let it show on his face, nor did he speed his steps, but just like he knew the wolves were nearby when he shot Hojo, he knew he was being tracked now.

Turks? No. If it were Turks, he wouldn't have noticed them so quickly. Normal thieves, perhaps? Cloud kept his attention focused on them as he tried to find busier streets to hide in. Normal thieves rarely sought ShinRa soldiers. Maybe they were greedy and stupid.

And their timing was sheer coincidence. Yeah.

Cloud exhaled and glanced around him. Everyone was busy looking away from Cloud, completely isolating him in the crowd. They knew he was being tracked, and even if they were so generous as to help a stranger, they wouldn't aid a ShinRa goon.

His sword was back in his barracks. He had no gun on him. He had no materia on him.

The second Cloud stepped around a sharp turn, three tall, dark men surrounded him. Their features were blatantly nondescript: hired goons, then. Hard to remember their features: beloved by the underworld for that purposed. Their clothes were dark and bland: easy to hide blood and their own personal features. Shadows, no more, with cold, impersonal eyes.

Definitely not normal thieves.

They didn't make a word, and Cloud's eyes widened when he saw the shimmer of materia under one's hand. He ducked and rolled, and ice slammed into the face of one of the goons. He kicked out, the heel of his boot catching a knee. He rolled away from another boot, barely missing the steel tip.

Around him, no one paused, no one looked, even at the icy glow.

Gritting his teeth, Cloud used his slimmer, smaller form to slide between two of the strangers. Something brushed against his temple and sparks arced before his eyes, but he didn't pause. He cursed his too bright blond hair and took off a dead run down the street. He could hear heavy thuds behind him and forced his legs to move faster.

Dammit, where was Vali when you needed him?

A familiar looking, battered building rose ahead of him. He had never been to this area before, but something about the building--a church, maybe?--struck a chord, and Cloud ran for it.

Church, church, church, why did that sound familiar?

He tripped on the steps leading to the church, hitting the ground hard. He snapped at himself to get to his feet, but the world wouldn't stop spinning. Crimson splashed on the ground beside his hands.

Maybe he had been hit harder than he thought.

He heard the charge of materia and forced himself to his hands and knees. He knew it wouldn't matter.

"Hey! Leave him alone!"

The voice was high, feminine, and a stark contrast to the meaty thud that followed, as well as the hoarse shout. Cloud managed to twist himself to see a woman in a pink dress with something swirling in her hands. She moved like a dancer but apparently hit as hard as a SOLDIER. One thug was backing away, holding his nose with blood gushing between his fingertips.

More importantly, people were beginning to look.

Where they wouldn't help a soldier, they had no problem helping this girl. Angry faces and angrier murmurs approached, and one thug gestured the other two before taking off at a sprint. The other two quickly followed.

Huffing indignantly, the girl spun around and focused on Cloud. "Oh, you're hurt!" she exclaimed. A blink later and she was kneeling at his side. She touched his temple, and Cloud flinched.

Church...a brunette with smiling green eyes...

"Aeris?" he breathed right before he passed out.


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh, you are adorable, aren't you?"  
  
For some reason, Cloud Strife had an odd sense of doom.  
  
"I've been waiting for you, you know. At least it was easy to recognize you, even without Zack's description. You‘re prettier than I thought you would be!"  
  
His head was in someone's lap. He was pretty sure it was someone's lap.  
  
…was that someone petting his head?  
  
"I've been told so much about you. You'll do great things someday. You're already off to a great start. Just think! This is only the beginning."  
  
Yes. His head was in someone's lap, and that someone was petting him like a tame chocobo. His first thought was Zack except he could smell . . . perfume? Was it perfume?  
  
"Don't worry, sweetie. I'll help take care of you now."  
  
And Zack didn't giggle like that. Nobody he knew giggled like that, actually.  
  
"Although it's not like you need too many more people taking care of you. Don't want to make anyone jealous."  
  
Flowers. It wasn't perfume: it was flowers.  
  
Like that, his woozy mind helpfully filled in the gaps.  
  
With a gasp, Cloud opened his eyes and startled wide awake. Only Aeris's surprisingly strong arms kept him from falling out of her lap. She was leaning down over him, so her big green eyes were only inches away as she clicked her tongue. The scolding sound didn't match the laughter in her eyes.  
  
"It's okay, Cloud," she said. "You're okay. Even if you are a little pale . . . I thought Zack was kidding about how easily you stressed yourself." Cloud could only stare as she wiped a golden spike away from his forehead. The beautiful brunette frowned. The heat of a flush rose up Cloud’s neck. "Zack's not doing a very good job taking care of you, is he?"  
  
Cloud opened his mouth, only to shut it again when nothing came out. What could he possibly…

He was still in her lap.

Coughing, Cloud tried to push himself up without putting his hands anywhere or touching anything, only to be pushed back down. "Silly," she scolded him. One slender hand went back to petting his hair. He was barely able to keep himself from telling her that nothing would make it settle down. "You've hit your head. Again. You really need to start taking it a little easier.”

Finally, Cloud forced something out. "…Aeris?" From what Zack had described, he had expected someone sweet and bright and beautiful, not insane.

Of course, she _was_ dating Zack…

Aeris grinned a grin which looked far too much like Zack’s for Cloud’s peace of mind.. "Of course! And I've heard all about you, don't worry." Her grin faded, green eyes growing dark. "I was expecting to see you sooner, though. I think Zack and I are going to have to have a talk, hiding you from me..." Then the grin was back. "I can't blame him too much, though. If I was a little greedier, I'd want you all to myself, too."

Cloud's head spun. He wondered how much of it was due to the concussion.

She patted his cheek. "Now take it a little slower, all right? I can't hog you to myself too much. Zack's probably going to panic if you don't get back soon.

_Take_ what _a little slower?_ Cloud almost asked before he realized she wanted him to get up. She probably wanted her lap back. Feeling the flush rise in a wave of heat from neck to the tip of his ears, Cloud nodded carefully and eased himself up. His head didn't hurt at all, so he didn't understand her caution. Did she have materia, maybe?

Aeris smiled at him, and sitting up, she seemed even prettier to Cloud. Throughout his life, only two women before Aeris had ever struck him as truly beautiful--Tifa and his mother--and the fact that she so quickly joined the list made him realized that it was probably going to be a while before his blush went away. Almost everyone else in Nibelheim had dark complexions. Why did he inherit his mother's pallor?

She leaned over and pecked his cheek before jumping to her feet. She dusted her dress off and offered him a hand. It seemed so tiny compared to what he was used to, but he didn’t want to seem rude. By Aeris' smile, he knew he made the right choice.

When Cloud was back on his feet, Aeris gestured around him. "So you're finally visiting my church," she said. "I've wanted to show it to you for the longest time. Do you like it?"

Oh yes. He could understand her and Zack staying together for so long, even if imagining the two together was now terrifying in an existential way. He smiled a little at her before glancing around.

The church itself wasn't too much, an archaic wooden building with a high ceiling and humble, broken pews. It was the flowers in the middle of the church that attracted Cloud's attention the most. Fascinated, he couldn't help wandering closer. They all but glowed in the middle of the church, and he knelt beside them. He slipped off a glove to finger a petal. It felt soft against his finger. For some reason, the flowers reminded him of the flowers high on Nibel Mt., where few villagers dared to travel. No matter the season they could always be found, an oasis of life even in the middle of winter's deadly chill. Cloud couldn't help smiling.

Aeris knelt beside him. "I knew you would like them. And they like you, too."

xoxoxox

Whereas the first time when Cloud had walked these streets, everyone had been finding other things to look at, now strangers would catch his eye and nod at him. He had no idea if it had to do with the fact that he had been attacked or if it was related to their strange reaction when Aeris jumped into the fray, but he was grateful, nonetheless. The last thing he needed was more enemies. It appeared as if he had enough already.

And he definitely liked having friends. Walking past one alleyway, Cloud blinked at the sight of three men frozen to the side of a building. A familiar piece of red cloth dangled off to one side. No guess who was involved there.   
  
He didn't see Vincent on the way back. What was he up to? More importantly, did Cloud want to know?

He reached his new room and was moving to unlock the door when Zack's voice stopped him. "Hey, Cloud! Where by Shiva have you been?"

Turning around, Cloud yelped when strong arms yanked him into a solid chest. His breath exploded out in a wheeze. SOLDIER-strength, Zack, SOLDIER-strength!

Zack grabbed Cloud's arms and pushed him back enough to get a good look at his face. Dazed, Cloud blinked up at him. "You need to stop vanishing like that!” Zack frowned, tilting his head to examine Cloud from all angles. Cloud began squirming against Zack’s grip, but the man gave no sign that he noticed. "Are you pale? You look a little pale. Did something happen?"

Cloud paused and bit his lip, studying Zack's face. He wasn't the only one who looked a little pale. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Are you? Is everything okay?" His eyes widened. "Sephiroth's okay, right?"

All thoughts of meeting Aeris and seeing Vincent's handiwork vanished. Cloud anxiously looked Zack over. He didn't see anything, but there was a lot that wouldn't show, especially if Turks were involved—

Zack rolled his eyes and gently shook Cloud. "I'm fine. You just need to stop vanishing like that, okay? There's too much going on right now." He frowned. "I really should just buy you a leash. I bet you would look great with a collar. A blue one, to match your eyes..."

The color returned to Zack's face as he grinned. A lot more color than that returned to Cloud's. He was beginning to think that he was never going to stop blushing.

Unfortunately, he never got to answer. "Cloud? Cloud Strife? Hey, let go of him!"

The new voice went from curious to outraged, and Zack automatically tightened his grip at the command. However, recognizing the voice, Cloud spun around and broke his grip. "Allen!" he exclaimed, delighted.

At the end of the hall by the stairwell, three privates stood. Each bore the insignia of Cloud's old platoon, and Cloud grinned at the sight. It had been a while, and the way things had been going, he had no idea how much longer it would be until he saw them again.

Actually, on that note, what were privates doing on this floor?

Allen Cognin led the other two down the hall. Jacob Ysir and Kelen Algeron walked closed behind him. Allen stopped several feet away and saluted sharply at Zack, but the formal gesture didn't match the fire in his green eyes. The other two were torn between staring wide-eyed at Cloud and glancing at Zack’s hands, which were still open at his sides.

"Sir," Allen said crisply. "We didn't recognize you."

There was something off with his tone. It didn't match his gesture or his words, but Cloud only smiled. It had been a while since he had seen them. He would figure out what it was later, surely.

Behind Cloud, Zack was tense. He needed to interrogate Zack anyway, Cloud decided.

"It has been a while," Zack agreed, his voice cheerful. Cloud looked up at him, but Zack was focused on the three privates. "Hey, we'll talk later, okay, Cloud? Let you meet up with your friends again. When you're done, just swing by Sephiroth's office."

Something was definitely off, but Cloud just shrugged. It had been a long time since he had seen friends other than Zack . . . did Sephiroth count as a friend? Or Vincent? What about Aeris? Huh. He mentally shook his head. Later. He would worry about all that later.

"Come in," Cloud invited. "You guys want to see my new quarters?"

Jacob grinned and stepped forward, but Allen was faster. He stepped directly in front of Cloud and looked him over. "Probably would be a good idea," he agreed, his tone making Cloud wonder if they were having two separate conversations. Nothing unusual there.

Cloud glanced at Jacob, who was straining trying to look past Cloud and possibly past the closed door, and at Kelen, who looked like he was doing the same thing, just more subtly. He shrugged and turned around, opening his door and gesturing for the three to walk in.

"Sorry it's so bare," he apologized, closing the door behind himself. The desk had a chair, but beyond that, there was only Cloud's bed. He sat in his chair and waved towards the bed. "I just moved in today." He thought for a second. "I only found out that I was moving today, actually."

Both Jacob and Kelen plopped on the mattress, Jacob going so far as to fall back on it and stretch, but Allen remained standing. "What happened, Cloud?" he demanded. "The last we heard you were going to Nibelheim for a mission because they wanted someone familiar with the area. Next thing we know, everyone's completely hush-hush about it. When we came back from our mission, there were rumors flying about you guys. What's going on?"

Oh. Cloud stared at him for a moment. If things were strange from his angle--someone who had actually experienced all of it--he didn't want to imagine it from someone else's perspective. He swallowed a sudden lump in his throat and glanced at Jacob and Kelen, but they were only staring curiously at him, too. Jacob gestured at him to say something, but Kelen just looked expectantly at him.

"I," he began, only to shut up. Cloud licked his lips and thought for a second. In front of him, Allen crossed his arms over his chest, his expression a little short of a glare. Only a year older than Cloud, he had been a corporal for more than a year longer than Cloud. He was often a leader in the platoon, and he had been the first to take Cloud under his wing. Of course, that had been before Zack had swooped into the scene, but Allen was still protective of Cloud. He was used to be in charge of everything around his platoon's lives.

But what could Cloud tell him now? When he had originally been assigned to the mission, nothing had been really classified beyond "This shouldn't slip to the public." That was before Jenova, before Hojo, before the _Turks_. He licked his lips again, only aware then of how dry his mouth felt. These were members of his old platoon, his _friends_ , and he had no idea what he could tell them.

"I-I think it's classified," he said helplessly. Allen's eyes narrowed. On the bed, Kelen stilled. Jacob leaned forward as if "classified" meant Cloud could share juicy gossip. "I mean, it wasn't originally, but things happened and..." Cloud shook his head. _I killed Professor Hojo_ probably wouldn't be a good place to start, even if Zack thought it was a great place to break the ice with SOLDIERs. _Two of my commanding officers grow tentacles when they're stressed_ definitely wasn't a good place to start. Or end. Or anything, really.

"Cloud," Allen said, his voice soft, "are you in trouble? What was going on with Zack when we came by?"

Cloud was missing something, he knew he was. He shook his head again. "No, no, I'm not in trouble." _I_ _don't think._ "Zack was just upset that I kept disappearing or something. You don't need to worry about him."

Allen hummed. Jacob swung his legs so they were dangling off the bed. "But why are you up here now?" he asked. Jacob was several months younger than Cloud, but he looked two years younger. It was a toss-up who acted younger, and everyone in the platoon refused to give Cloud an estimate when he asked. "When we came back, your bunk and locker were cleaned out. Your eyes still look weird but not really weird, so you're not a SOLDIER."

Cloud shrugged weakly. "Ah, I've been promoted? I don't know why. I think it's for security reasons or something. I think the General is still working on the paperwork for it."

Field promotion. For some reason, Cloud remembered his old daydreams about how he would get field promotions granted by Sephiroth himself, and he wanted to laugh about those dreams now. If he only knew...

"There's rumors going around, Cloud," Kelen spoke up. Out of all the troopers in Cloud's ex-platoon, he was the only one who could match Cloud's fair complexion and slender form, which made his deep voice such a shock. "Have you heard anything about 'Sephiroth's Shadow'?"

Cloud blinked at him. "Shadow?" Wait. He tilted his head back and stared thoughtfully at the yellowing ceiling. "Yeah. I think…I think I heard Zack say something like that." He glanced at Kelen again. "What other rumors are there?"

But the other three had gone silent. There was _another_ one of those damned silent conversations going on again. He was really beginning to hate those.

"Don't worry about it, Cloud," Allen said eventually, glancing one last time at Kelen and Jacob. "Look, we came up to this floor seeing if Zack knew where you were. Now that we've found you, you think you have time to come down and see the rest of the platoon? Everyone was pretty worried about you."

Cloud flushed, getting to his feet. He didn't even _think_ \-- "Sure," he said quickly. "I have time."

Afterward he would go see Zack and Sephiroth. He had to tell them about those goons.

Just... he would skip over what happened to them afterward.

Even if Zack's expression might be worth it.

He started for the door, only to cringe and spin around. “Oh, yeah, just let me grab my sword.” Zack was going to kill him soon if he kept forgetting it like that.

When he started for the door again, it took him a moment to realize the others weren’t following. He turned to see why, only to see them staring wide-eyed at his sword.

“What?”

xoxoxox  
  
When Cloud returned to his room after meeting with the rest of the platoon, he was more exhausted than when he had the meeting with the president. There was nothing quite like being interrogated by an entire platoon. Not a single one had revealed what those damned rumors were about, and Cloud hadn't had time to build up any type of stash to bribe anyone with. It wasn't like he could use his former methods, anymore.

Cloud shook away the memory of his mother's cookies and strode into his room. He would just take a moment to gather himself up again before he met with Zack and Sephiroth. Then he would sleep. Sleep was—

"Zack?" Cloud exclaimed, alarmed. He clumsily turned on the light before running to the figure beside the bed. A stray tentacle almost cracked him in the head, but he ducked in time and grabbed Zack's arms. Zack's wide eyes met his own as he dragged his friend onto the bed. The older man sprawled awkwardly, his tentacles still flying everywhere. Prone like he was, he was less likely to knock Cloud unconscious with one of them. "Zack, what happened? What's going on?"

Zack stared helplessly at him for a second, and Cloud realized strips of Zack's pants still clung to the tentacles. Not a planned thing then. Unconsciously, Cloud began running a soothing hand over the closest tentacles.

"This is going to make it hard to walk down the hall," Zack commented, the shadows in his eyes belaying his light tone. Cloud didn't stop petting his tentacles.

"Zack..." he warned.

Zack shrugged at him, not noticing that most of his tentacles mimicked the motion. Cloud slightly shifted so his legs wouldn’t be tied up. He swallowed a little as several of Zack’s tentacles intertwined with his legs. He had to adjust his stance as the tentacles kept sliding higher.

“Zack,” Cloud repeated, hoping Zack wouldn’t notice the catch in his voice.

Zack didn’t even seem to notice what his tentacles were doing. Even though he was trying to smile, the pinched look never left his face. Because of that, Cloud tried to ignore what his tentacles were doing, too.

“Another group of scientists have vanished, all with known ties to Hojo,” Zack said, and Cloud swallowed that damned lump again. It felt like ice straight from Hel’s domain. “The remaining scientists have gotten jumpy, especially since the president has given the Turks permission to interrogate them. A couple have even locked themselves deeper in the labs. They’re terrified, and we don’t know why.”

Cloud wanted to scream. Everything was supposed to be so simple now that they were back in Midgar. Why was it only getting worse?

And would those tentacles stop moving, dammit?

“Sephiroth wants the SOLDIERs to check out the lab tomorrow,” Zack continued, the urgency in his voice distracting Cloud from one wandering tentacle. “You were with us in Nibelheim, so Seph wants you there, too. He wants your perspective on it.”

Cloud swallowed for a different reason now. “What?” he croaked.

Zack really had no right to look that _earnest_ while one tentacle was wrapped firmly around Cloud’s upper thigh. “You’re the one who dealt with Jenova in Nibelheim. We need you in there, Cloud.”

Yeah, right. Cloud swallowed again, his mouth completely dry. While he was stumbling for a coherent argument, Zack finally noticed where his tentacles were. Later Cloud would have to lecture him about that whole jumping-back-in-surprise thing when you had about a dozen limbs wrapped around somebody else’s body. Later, as in when he wasn’t being forced to jump along with Zack. With a yelp, they both tumbled to the floor.

Well, Cloud thought wryly after a moment, legs perpendicular to the bed, at least Zack wasn't upset anymore.

Actually, Zack was laughing. True, it was breathless and he wasn't meeting Cloud's eyes, but Cloud really didn't want to meet his eyes, either, so it worked.

"You need a bigger bed," Zack managed to get out after a moment.

Cloud snorted, not moving from the floor. His head was inches away from the wall. He was grateful for the distance. He’d had enough concussions lately. "Would it make a difference?"

Zack didn't pause. "No."

Cloud groaned and Zack laughed again, but it sounded cheerful instead of hysterical, so Cloud counted it as a win. Zack's tentacles were gone, replaced by bare legs hidden only by shreds of fabric. Cloud wasn't sure what to count that as.

The second Zack noticed, he slipped away from Cloud, bending his knees in front of him. Cloud deliberately continued staring at the ceiling.

"Well," Zack said after a moment, the shrug apparent in his voice, "this won't be the first time that I had to get back to my room without pants."

Cloud also noted that he didn't bother asking Cloud to borrow any of his pants. As soon as he stopped noticing the lack of warmth along his side, he would bring himself to be indignant.

For now, though...

He could hear Zack breathing, deep, soothing breaths. Listening to those breaths for a moment, Cloud pushed himself into a sitting position. His legs felt as bare as if he was the one sans pants.

"So," Zack said eventually, as if they hadn't just fallen in a tangle to the floor. Once upon a time, that wouldn't have been nearly as awkward. They would still have been laughing. "You in for tomorrow?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow at him. Zack grinned. Cloud focused on his glowing violet eyes, ignoring the skin bared to him.

He was screwed.

"What time?" he asked, trying not to think of miles of bared flesh, but thinking about Hojo's lab didn't feel any better.

Zack grinned. It stretched awkwardly on his face. "0600, soldier."

Cloud's responding grin felt just as awkward. He told himself to remember Aeris, beautiful, happy, slightly scary Aeris, Zack's girlfriend Aeris. And Sephiroth, from the whispers and noises in the field. Or maybe he shouldn’t remember that. "0600."

Zack's grin softened and became a little more natural, even as he stood and Cloud had to quickly look in the opposite direction. "I'll put on some pants and then update Seph. Get some rest, okay? We'll talk later."

Cloud's grin fell the moment Zack closed the door behind him. He sighed and dropped his head back on the mattress behind him.

"Mama," he murmured. "You never, _ever_ told me there would be days like this."

"Good evening, Commander Fair!"

"Good evening, lieutenant! And you might want to watch out for your subordinates: I think one of them just ran into a wall."

xoxoxox

Cloud didn’t mean to fall asleep. The plan was to clean up while Zack dressed, and then he was going to meet Zack in Sephiroth’s office. The wake-up call was going to come early enough; there was no reason to be unprepared.

Except Cloud fell asleep, fully dressed, boots still on the floor, light still on. He didn’t stir when Zack entered his room, Sephiroth at his heels. He didn’t even notice when Sephiroth loomed over him, a concerned frown on his face, or when Zack sat on the bed. It was only when Zack gently touched his cheek and quietly commanded, “Wake up, Cloud,” that his eyes opened.

For some reason, seeing them both fully dressed surprised him. It wasn’t the reason he jumped, but when he closed his eyes, he was alone in the room. How often could someone enter his room when he was sleeping without waking him up, after all?

Of course these two would be exceptions, though.

“Sorry to wake you up, Cloud,” Zack apologized. To Cloud’s relief, the brunet definitely looked more relaxed than before: definitely more relaxed than Sephiroth, who looked like he had no idea where to sit in Cloud’s room. “But we have to run through this and I didn’t think you wanted to sleep like that, anyway.”

Cloud decided then he might as well permanently be flushed. Would save his blood vessels some effort, he was sure.

Sephiroth finally seemed to decide the desk chair seemed safe and was sitting straight-backed in it, sharp eyes still perusing the room. Cloud wasn’t sure what he was looking for. The room was still embarrassingly bare.

“This should be pretty open and shut,” Zack continued, leaving Sephiroth alone in his little investigation. “We’re only using SOLDIERs for security reasons. Right now, after Nibelheim, you have the security clearance to come with us. Don’t be surprised if you see Turks down there. Just ignore them. If they try to ask you questions, direct them to Sephiroth. For security reasons, always keep a SOLDIER with you. We go in, we talk with the scientists, we do a preliminary search for anything Hojo may have left behind, and we leave.”

As Cloud absorbed this, Sephiroth finally seemed content with his little exploration of the room. “The official briefing will be at 0430 in my office. Bring both your rifle and your sword. As a precaution, materia will be provided to you.”

That caught Cloud’s attention. His eyes snapped up to meet Sephiroth’s solemn gaze. Being allowed both a sword and materia for a mission was all but unheard of for a lowly sergeant, especially one newly promoted.

Of course, it was equally unheard of for a sergeant to have SOLDIER-security clearance.

Cloud nodded, not even attempting to speak. Sephiroth held his gaze, looking like he was studying Cloud like he had studied the room. Cloud wasn’t sure if he could move, unsure if it was Sephiroth or the General in front of him right then.

Then Sephiroth smiled and Cloud knew. “Sleep well. Tomorrow shouldn’t be hard, but it will be long.”

Cloud couldn’t help but smile back. An easy day with Zack and Sephiroth for company the whole time? He was fine with that.

xoxoxox

The storm was loud enough to wake the dead.

Some would say it already had.

It had come out of nowhere, taking everyone by surprise. A maelstrom of ice and wind, it swept over the lifeless land.

Frozen on his hands and knees, Cloud could only stare at the confusion of white and green below him. He knew what this was, he _knew_. He had to tell Sephiroth. Sephiroth would understand.

He tried to turn around, but it wasn’t Sephiroth’s green eyes that he saw.

It was cold, dead, grey eyes.

And everything went dark.

 


	9. Chapter 9

Lightning cracked overhead, the resounding thunder snapping like ice shattering rather than the pounding bass of Nibelheim's storms. It popped again, sharp and vicious. Another crack, shriller, tearing through Cloud’s ears. Another, shriller still, and another.  
  
Cloud woke when he slapped his face instead of his ears, his alarm clock repeatedly sounded on the nightstand. He swatted at it, fingers too numb to turn it off the first try and in the end he fell off the bed trying to stop it. The last remnants of his dream lingered as he cursed and try to untangle himself from the blankets. Cold? Lightning? Zack would probably like to hear it, but first Cloud had to free himself from those damned blankets.  
  
Five minutes later, alarm clock unplugged and facedown on the other side of the room, Cloud sat on his heap of blankets and tried to figure out a plan. A shower would help wake him up, but he had no idea where the showers were in this section of the building. More importantly, he didn't have a clue where any good coffee would be in this part of the building. He wasn't stupid enough to try cafeteria coffee, thank you very much.  
  
His fingers were still a bit numb while Cloud got dressed. The only thing he could think of that would explain it was that he slept on his hands during the night. Cloud rubbed his hands together in an attempt to restore circulation as he eyed his blade resting next to the bed. The beautiful sword was still unnamed, and he didn't feel if he had the right to name it. Maybe after he made SOLDIER. If that was even possible anymore, that is.  
  
Cloud shook his head and focused on the matter at hand. He grabbed his pistol and knives, slipping them into their holsters before he grabbed his rifle and slung it over his shoulder. The easy part was done now.  
  
What to do about his sword? Cloud was going on a SOLDIER-class mission but did that give him the right to carry one of their weapons? It was one thing to have it earlier when there was little choice in the matter, but was he allowed to carry it now?  
  
Cloud hesitated, still looking at the gleaming sword. Beautiful but nameless... he bit his lip and made a quick decision, grabbing the sword and its sheath. He didn’t let himself think about it, just finished preparing both weapons and uniform.  
  
He was ready. He just had to be ready.  
  
When he stepped into Sephiroth's office later, Zack was waiting by the desk with an extra cup of coffee and a warm smile, to Cloud's delighted surprise. Sephiroth nodded at him, an identical cup in front of him. Cloud nodded back, unsure if he was allowed to smile at him. Instead, he grabbed his cup and focused on that. As he stood by Zack's side, Cloud was reminded of what it was like Before, when Zack would track him down between missions, always with a drink, snack and a smile. It was almost enough to make him forget he was surrounded by SOLDIERs preparing for an S-class mission.  
  
Across from Cloud, five pairs of glowing eyes lined the wall next to the door. A few of the Soldiers nodded, the rest standing still and watchful. Realizing where he was standing for the first time, Cloud nodded back at them. Cloud had met several SOLDIERs at Wutai and at Midgar's border but he didn't know any of the ones in the room. A tall, lean blond smiled at him, flashing incredibly white teeth. Cloud automatically smiled back.  
  
“He’s Xan,” Zack murmured. “The guy with the curly hair on his right is Gibbons. He’s kinda grumpy, so we try to keep him paired with Xan: less fights that way. Short black guy on Xan’s left is Terry. Make sure to get some hand-to-hand tips from him later. Just trust me on that. The big guy beside Gibbons is Leto. You guys can talk chocobos. The tall pretty dude beside him is Jonson. Trigger-happy guy. Rarely uses a sword. It’s a sad state for a SOLDIER, really.”  
  
In the corner of the room, Jonson raised a sleek black eyebrow. Zack grinned mischievously at him, and Cloud groaned inwardly and hid behind his coffee cup again. Caffeine-provider and shield: coffee could multi-task like that.  
  
Cloud wasn’t sure how many people were supposed to be attending, but as Sephiroth was still looking through papers instead of beginning the brief, he felt it safe to assume more were still coming. The SOLDIERs stood at deceptively casual parade rest, but Cloud knew better. Zack stood relaxed at his elbow, occasionally brushing against Cloud’s side. Cloud had no idea how much of the action was accidental, but it warmed him more than the coffee in his hands.  
  
Cloud was just finishing off his coffee when the door opened again. “Arik and Bo,” Zack breathed, and Cloud didn’t ask who was who as two tall, broad-shouldered brunets walked in; he wouldn’t be able to differentiate between the near-identical SOLDIERs, anyway. Sipping his coffee, Cloud watched them stride to stand beside Jonson. They both glanced only briefly in Cloud’s direction, perhaps wondering about the only one in the room without glowing eyes, before focusing on Sephiroth. Sephiroth nodded curtly at them before standing. With no other warning, with no introduction, the briefing began.  
  
The mission brief was quick and concise, going over information Cloud already knew. They were to investigate Hojo’s lab and search for Jenova-related materials. Anything suspicious would be confiscated, and any remaining lab assistants would be interrogated and, if necessary, taken into custody. Sephiroth’s tone was doubtful at that point in the briefing. Cloud understood why. Anyone with information on Hojo was probably long gone by now. All experiments related to Hojo would be taken for further study, and if anyone was to in any way impede their investigation, they were to be taken into custody for later interrogation.  
  
Cloud barely kept himself from shuddering and didn’t ask questions at the end of the briefing. Neither did Zack.  
  
Cloud didn't know what the others knew about Nibelheim, but their questions were quiet and to the point, never asking for details about the experiments. Sephiroth’s answers were as concise as the briefing had been. After the questions finished, the SOLDIERs watched Sephiroth silently, as still and focused as a pack of wolves. At Cloud’s side, Zack had the same air of intensity around him, violet eyes glowing fiercely. Cloud held himself as still as he could, his sword a heavy weight on his back. For some reason, it seemed heavier than both of the guns tucked into his holster and slung at his side.  
  
Sephiroth seemed to look over the group one last time before nodding to himself. He stepped out from behind the desk, walking to the door. Zack immediately stepped to his side, as if he had noticed some silent signal. Not sure where he was supposed to stand, realizing for the first time that that had not been covered in the brief, Cloud stood still until Zack caught his eye and gestured to his side. Unsure, Cloud walked over to him, and only then did the other SOLDIERs move, stepping behind them. It was a practiced formation, Cloud guessed, but he still wasn’t sure where he should be in it.  
  
None of the SOLDIERs seemed to have doubts concerning their own location. There were nine in all, with Cloud clearly the odd one out. Sephiroth led them, Zack at his right shoulder, Cloud incongruously at his left. The other SOLDIERs walked in pairs behind them. Cloud couldn’t hear a single footstep. He admitted to himself that the walk intimidated him more than their destination. Still, he kept his head high, his gaze focused past Sephiroth’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure why he was here, but he would be damned if he was going to be a burden.  
  
The halls leading to Hojo’s labs were largely empty. Most of the people awake at this hour were troopers preparing for formation, most not even having the clearance to be there unless receiving shots. Cloud tried not to dwell on that. The few they did pass -- most in business suits -- deliberately avoided the SOLDIERs as they walked _. Don’t look them in the eye. Don’t challenge them. Don’t bare your throat._ Those thoughts flitted through Cloud’s mind as people ducked their heads and looked away.  
  
Cloud fought to keep focused on the mission, tried to be as mentally prepared as possible to be able to help the SOLDIERs in some way, but a chill went up his spine and he felt like he was back in the swamp with the zoloms underfoot. They were going in as hunters but for some reason Cloud felt like the prey. He told himself it was only because he was surrounded by focused SOLDIERs.  
  
Yes. That had to be it.   
  
The chill in Cloud’s spine had moved to his chest as Sephiroth led them to a large, imposing metal door. To Cloud’s surprise, two troopers from his (old) unit stood before the door, their rifles held low. The moment they saw Sephiroth though, they snapped their rifles to a salute position. Cloud resisted the urge to hide behind Sephiroth as their eyes flicked over to him, confusion and near-panic in their gazes.  
  
_What’s going on?_ they seemed to ask, and Cloud didn’t feel nearly confident enough to answer.  
  
“Sir,” the one to Cloud’s left -- Brady, who was as green as the plants he loved and why did they have such an inexperienced trooper guarding Hojo’s labs? -- blurted out, his voice clear even if too loud, and a sliver of pride burrowed through the burgeoning panic in Cloud’s chest.  
  
Sephiroth nodded at Brady. Cloud didn’t hear what he told him, distracted by motion behind him. The SOLDIERs, who had been so still and alert in Sephiroth’s office, were fidgeting. Cloud glanced at Zack and tensed at the too-bright glow in his friend’s eyes.  
  
If they were back at the bog, the water would be swirling under their feet right now.  
  
“Cloud,” Zack said beside him, sounding alarmed, but Cloud ignored him as he stepped beside Sephiroth.  
  
“Sir,” he said, interrupting the General. Brady blanched; Sephiroth just raised an eyebrow. “I believe we missed something important in the briefing that could affect the mission.” Like all these Jenova cells in one place, he added mentally, but he bit his tongue due to the troopers. Cloud stood straight, kept his tone professional, but he knew his eyes were pleading. Sephiroth had no reason to trust him on this, but he hoped Sephiroth would at least let Cloud tell him what the problem was.  
  
To Cloud’s relief, Sephiroth nodded. He turned back to the troopers. “I will --”  
  
“We’re already here!” Gibbons snapped behind them. Cloud startled, his hand automatically drifting toward his blade. “Let’s just finish the mission!”  
  
His voice was too tight, too fierce, and nausea roiled in Cloud’s gut as he turned around.  
  
Where Gibbons’ eyes were blue earlier, now they were bright green.  
  
Cloud had no time to call out or give any warning at all. With lightning speed (too fast for even a SOLDIER, far too fast), Gibbons slipped around the group and slipped through the door. It slammed shut as the wide-eyed and white troopers scattered.  
  
Of course they would run. Of course. They were the greenest ones in Cloud’s unit. What else could they do?  
  
“Fuck!” Zack cursed beside him. Sephiroth and Zack darted toward the door, so fast they seemed to blur before Cloud’s eyes. Suddenly seeing himself being trampled by a pack of SOLDIERs, Cloud bolted through the doorway. A second later, the door slammed shut again but Cloud barely noticed, wide eyes focused on Gibbons.  
  
“Stop, dammit!” Zack shouted frantically. If everything had been too fast before, now it seemed deadly slow, the world crawling around Cloud.  
  
The door had led them into an empty room with another door at the far end. A barrier, Cloud thought dimly, watching Gibbons open the other door. Sephiroth was beside the SOLDIER, hand on his shoulder.  
  
It was too little, too late.  
  
Gibbons vanished through the doorway with a startled scream. Sephiroth threw himself after him, the rest of the SOLDIERs following. Cloud had no idea if it was in response to their own being in danger or Jenova, but he whipped out his sword and plunged after them anyway.  
  
Cloud’s world exploded in a flurry of feathers and leathery limbs and panicked screams.  
  
All of the SOLDIERs were down. Pants were shredded, tentacles coiling and flailing and striking, tangling with the SOLDIERs around them. But it wasn’t just tentacles. To Cloud’s dazed astonishment, the SOLDIERs each had a large wing flaring out proudly and perfectly from their back, white or brown or black or red, loose feathers floating around and smacking Cloud across the face.   
  
The sound of glass shattering snapped Cloud out of his shock. He held his blade protectively in front of him as he finally surveyed the room.  
  
The sterile lab was filled with large glass tubes and plain, metal file cabinets. Each of the tubes pulsed with an eerie, green light, something the size of Zack’s leg twisting in each of them.   
  
The color was the exact shade of Sephiroth’s eyes.  
  
_Jenova_ , Cloud realized, feeling sick at the thought.  
  
Movement caught his eye. He stepped forward, standing between the SOLDIERs and the nearest glass tube. Thick glass and a viscous liquid spread out on the floor as a serpentine creature writhed in the mess.  
   
“Everyone get out of here!” Cloud shouted, eyes fixed on the creature. “They’re attracted to the cells in you!”  
  
Cloud didn’t dare turn around but the rustle of tentacles and feathers was mixed with snarled orders and grunts of effort. He wanted to physically grab the SOLDIERs and haul them out of the room like he had done with Sephiroth and Zack at the reactor, to forcibly remove them from danger. He could remember all too clearly the madness in Sephiroth’s eyes, the hidden fear in Zack’s, and the pulsing green in Jenova’s shell. He remembered the pain and terror and he remembered the fire and smoke. He was beginning to realize that they hadn’t won: not yet.  
  
He could hear Zack’s voice over the others as he shouted and coaxed them out of there. That knowledge kept Cloud’s hands steady on his sword. Zack would get them out of there. Cloud would provide cover. They could do this.  
  
He had no idea if the creatures were just reacting to the SOLDIERs’ retreat or if there was actual thought involved, but the farther the Soldiers moved, the faster and stronger the pulsing grew. The thing on the floor coiled and rose like a snake, standing as high as Cloud's waist. Its head was nothing more than a bulbous mass with glowing, slitted eyes and bared, irregular fangs.  
  
Cloud got into a defensive stance just as the creature lunged forward. He immediately brought his blade up, keeping himself and his sword in a defensive position rather than moving to an offensive one. The thing shrieked on impact and fell back, green blood running from its head. Cloud felt the reverberations going up his arms as if he'd hit a rock.  
  
The attack had been stupid and clumsy but definitely strong. It still bled, green pouring down its muscled form, but it looked ready to try again, coiled on the floor. Cloud wondered if it even realized it was injured.  
  
“Cloud!” Zack shouted from the door.  
  
“I’m fine!” Cloud shouted back. “Get them out of here!”  
  
Cloud could hear more glass cracking as the room glowed greener. He could see blank emerald eyes all around, blackened fangs pressed against the glass. All the while, feathers swirled around him the Soldiers unable to stop their new appendages from moving as Zack pushed and pulled them out as the situation.  
  
The creature lunged again, strong enough to push Cloud backwards. Cloud's blade was wider than the creature and thankfully proved to be an excellent shield as Cloud shoved back against it. Cloud sliced at it when it retreated, trying to force it back even further. The thing flinched back, but it appeared to pay no more attention to the wounds than a dragon would a gnat.  
  
If Cloud could get the freedom to move, he was positive he could win. If he had the freedom to move, though, his goals would be very different.  
  
"Cloud!" Sephiroth called, too close for Cloud's comfort. The alarm in his voice, however, made him look over at him.  
  
One wing stretched from Sephiroth’s back, tall and proud and steady compared to his writhing tentacles. Fully expanded, it looked like it was the only thing keeping him balanced. Still, Cloud’s breath caught at the sight.  
  
Then Cloud noticed that it was only him and Sephiroth in the lab now. Sephiroth extended a hand. “Come on!” he commanded.  
  
Cloud immediately took a step back to Sephiroth, his sword still between him and the creature. Cloud was starting to believe it was mindless when the creature lunged again, but the repetitive motion was still strong enough to rock Cloud back. For a second, he thought of going on the offensive, but the memory of Sephiroth’s roiling tentacles kept him in place. Sephiroth wasn’t as steady as he pretended to be.  
  
Then something shattered to his right.  
  
Cloud didn't have time to see what happened before something grey slammed into him. It wasn't a solid hit, but it was more than enough to slam Cloud on his side. By some miracle, he managed to keep a hold of his sword.  
  
Something grabbed him and yanked him backward. Stunned, Cloud started to kick. He tightened his grip on his sword’s hilt, preparing to swing.  
  
“Cloud,” Sephiroth said, his voice tight. Cloud froze. Belatedly he realized it was Sephiroth’s tentacles wrapped around his waist as Sephiroth’s hands were busy holding Masamune. “Are you all right?”  
  
“I’m fine,” Cloud said automatically. The pain was distant, his focus divided between Sephiroth’s chest being warm against his back and the two creatures sidling closer. The second one was only different from the first in that it had a dwarfed wing, grey and mottled. Their eyes stared back, and Cloud struggled to stand. “We need to get out of here.”  
  
There were too many glass tubes and Jenova’s influence was too strong in such a small place and Cloud could feel Sephiroth shaking against him, tentacles sliding restlessly against his skin. There was too much going on, glass cracking and Jenova glowing vivid green. Time to leave, to regroup.   
  
Cloud heard Zack beyond the door, yelling at them to get out. That seemed to spur Sephiroth into motion. He allowed Cloud to get to his feet but didn’t let go of his waist. Instead, he edged them both closer to the door. Cloud heard more glass cracking and thought he heard another one shatter. He walked backward with Sephiroth, keeping his blade in the defensive position.  
  
That seemed to be all the encouragement the creatures needed. Together, they slid through the slime and broken glass, fangs bared. Like snakes, they snapped forward. Cloud and Sephiroth both raised their swords, Cloud deflecting one while Sephiroth cut through the second. The impact knocked Cloud back into Sephiroth’s chest, slamming the already unsteady General into the wall beside the door. Cloud’s head slammed against Sephiroth’s shoulder, and dazed, he slumped there, struggling to breathe.  
  
His new position had him looking at Sephiroth rather than the creatures, something that had every instinct in him screaming in protest, but he was too dazed to move. Sephiroth wasn't looking at them, either, though. He was staring at Cloud, wide-eyed and flushed. Emotions flitted through his eyes, but Cloud couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He just tried to breathe.  
  
Sephiroth licked his lips once and then leaned down and pressed his mouth against Cloud’s quickly and chastely. Dumbstruck, it didn’t occur for Cloud to kiss back until Sephiroth started pulling away. He brushed his lips once against Sephiroth’s, and only then did it occur to him to wonder what by Hel he was doing.  
  
More glasses shattered and they jerked apart. Before they could do anything, hands and tentacles both reached through the open door (How long had it been open? Cloud wondered dizzily) and yanked them both out. The door closed again with a slam.


	10. Chapter 10

Everything blurred after Zack -- because it had to have been Zack, only he had that much control of his tentacles -- pulled Cloud and Sephiroth from Hojo’s laboratory. Cloud didn’t have the slightest clue how he had gotten from the lab to the couch in Sephiroth’s office. All he could hope was that he hadn’t been carried. He was humiliated enough without that knowledge.  
  
For that matter, Cloud had no clue as to how any of them had managed to get to Sephiroth’s office or where Zack kept getting this delicious coffee. He sipped at it as he leaned his back against the arm of the couch, blue eyes focused over the rim on the rest of the office. He felt off-balance, a side effect of the blows from the lab and the Cure still coursing through his system. He gripped the coffee cup tightly, needing the feel of something solid in his hands as much as he needed the caffeine.   
  
Actually, with his lips burning as much as his sore body, Cloud simply needed something solid.  
  
Sipping his coffee and ignoring his burning tongue, Cloud it felt like a terrible parody of earlier this morning. The SOLDIERs stood at attention before Sephiroth’s desk, faces pale and eyes downcast. Gibbons’ hands flexed behind his straight back, shoulders so tense that it made Cloud’s ache in sympathy. Their pants were ribbons around their legs and their shirts were ripped. It was only the pallor of their faces and the shaking of the hands behind their backs that gave away the trauma of their recent transformations. Sephiroth paced behind his desk, his eyes too bright. Zack was kneeling by Cloud's side, his face a mask Cloud had never seen before and his steely voice near unrecognizable.  
  
A terrible, sick parody that made Cloud want to throw up. Why did everything always go wrong so fast?  
  
Cloud hid behind his coffee mug. His sword rested beside the couch, and he wished bleakly that he could hide behind that, instead.  
  
“The labs are quarantined,” Zack continued. Like Sephiroth, his eyes were too bright, an electric violet that seemed to resonate through the air. They sent chills up Cloud’s spine. “Everyone has been ordered to remain in their respective areas. The President has been informed of these actions but not the events preceding them. As of this moment, to the best of our knowledge, no one is aware of the transformations. The higher-ranking SOLDIERs are gathering intel just in case, as well as checking for any possible surveillance in the proximity of Hojo’s lab. So far, Hojo’s paranoia is working in our favor.”  
  
Cloud sipped his coffee, starting to get a handle on the timeline of what happened earlier. He still had some gaps on what exactly had happened between the lab and here but felt too intimidated to ask.  
  
It had been such an obvious trap. Why hadn’t he said something? He was the only one in the group not affected by Jenova. It had been his responsibility, and he had failed spectacularly.  
  
A hand touched his own, stopping him from taking another drink. “Cloud,” Zack said quietly. “It’s empty.”  
  
Cloud blinked and looked down. Oh. He hadn’t noticed.  
  
Cloud allowed Zack to take the mug and put it on the floor. Disturbed by Zack’s distant expression, Cloud glanced at the SOLDIERs again. They were still at attention. Still quiet. Still pale. Still afraid.  
  
They had spontaneously grown tentacles, and wings had torn themselves from their backs. Cloud couldn't blame them for being afraid.  
  
Idly, Cloud wondered where their wings had gone.  
  
"Cloud," Sephiroth said. His voice sounded odd, too. Despite that, caught by the command in Sephiroth's voice, Cloud looked up.  
  
Cloud had never seen Sephiroth's eyes that cold, as if a stranger was looking at him. Cloud guessed he couldn't blame him either as the attack was hitting far too close to home, but he still felt the chill in his gut.  
  
And the guilt.  
  
“We’ll investigate this,” Sephiroth was saying, and Cloud wondered what he had missed when he had zoned out, “and you need to gather a handful of trusted troopers to investigate the lab and to clear out the creatures. See if anyone from your former unit has security clearance high enough and a knowledge of materia, particularly fire.”  
  
Cloud nodded, tempted to salute but too aware of how awkward the salute would look with him still sitting on the couch. Sephiroth’s words rang through his head. _Former unit._ What was his present unit then?  
  
Cloud didn’t ask, though; he said simply, “Yes, sir.”  
  
Cloud sat silently for the rest of the meeting, fingers twisted together on his lap since his coffee mug was gone. Zack remained a quiet, intense presence at his side as SOLDIERs wandered in, some with papers, most without. The original group of SOLDIERs never moved from their positions, and Sephiroth never relaxed, coiled but with no target to strike. By the time Cloud got the all-clear to assemble his team, Cloud felt like he could barely breathe.  
  
To Cloud’s surprise, Zack followed him from the office. “How are you doing?” Zack asked quietly.  
  
Cloud looked at him in disbelief, almost missing a step. He didn’t know why he was surprised, though; this was Zack. Of course he would be asking that, even though Cloud was the only one from the group who hadn’t had new appendages springing from his body.  
  
“I’m fine,” Cloud assured him, voice soft. He glanced around. Two SOLDIERs stood at the end of the hall, but besides that, they were alone. “Are you okay?”  
  
The sudden sense of déjà vu made Cloud want to laugh. Hadn’t they done this before? Except then it had been just tentacles.  
  
Oh, by Hel. “Just” tentacles.  
  
Cloud had no idea what Zack saw in his face, but Zack abruptly grabbed his arm, stopping them both in the middle of the hall. Cloud tensed, the hair on the back of his neck rising. Every instinct screamed to get out of the open, to discuss nothing here.  
  
“Cloud,” Zack murmured, “breathe, buddy. You’re worrying me here.”  
  
Cloud exhaled sharply, his skin feeling too tight over his bones. Zack grabbed both of his shoulders, pulling him close.  
  
“It was a trap, Zack! Here!” Cloud hissed in a rush. He felt dizzy and sick and trapped and Zack was just staring at him, violet eyes still too bright. “Nibelheim was a trap, the plane was a trap, and here was a trap, too!”  
  
Zack shook him gently once, and Cloud’s mouth clamped shut. It took him a moment to realize that his voice had been steadily rising in pitch.  
  
“Breathe,” Zack repeated. His hands were tight on Cloud’s shoulders, steadying him. Cloud obligingly breathed. “I know. I know. But we got this, okay? We’ve been able to take everything that’s been thrown at us so far, and now we’ve got our allies behind us. We can do this, so don’t start freaking now.”  
  
Zack squeezed Cloud’s shoulders again, and Cloud closed his eyes. This close, he could feel Zack’s body heat, smell the sharp tang of his sweat: adrenaline and Mako, an acidic mix that always burned Cloud’s nose when he breathed it in too deeply.  
  
He didn’t question why he always did.  
  
“Whoever they are,” Zack said softly, “they don’t stand a chance against the three of us, okay?”  
  
For some reason, that made Cloud feel better than anything else Zack had said. He relaxed enough to smile a little.  
  
Zack released Cloud’s right shoulder to gently touch Cloud’s chin, making the blond raise his eyes. “Are you going to be okay? I need to go back and check on Sephiroth, make sure he doesn’t work himself up too much.” He caught Cloud’s eyes, not letting him look away. “If you’re not feeling good, go to your room and get some sleep. The lab’s quarantined; it’s not going anywhere. Neither one of us want you going in there at less than one hundred percent, okay?”  
  
Cloud barely resisted the urge to lean into Zack’s hand. He told himself he was just tired. “Go help Sephiroth,” he said, shaking his head a little. Catching up on his sleep sounded tempting, but he hated putting off his mission. He wasn’t going to tell Zack that, though. “I’ll be okay.”  
  
Zack stared at him for a moment longer, and then he squeezed Cloud’s shoulder. “Take it easy, okay?” he said softly. “No reason to do the other guys’ job for them by taking yourself out.”  
  
Zack’s thumb brushed Cloud’s cheek before the other man turned and walked back down the hall. Cloud watched him go. Only when he watched Sephiroth’s door close again did he let his shoulders slump. He was tired, but he’d be able to sleep after the lab. Mission first.  
  
“Your friend is very wise.”   
  
Vincent’s voice didn’t surprise him. Cloud turned around to see a glinting metal claw beckoning him further down the hall. Without hesitation, Cloud followed. He never got a good look at Vincent, but he followed Vincent’s shadow and voice down the hallway, up the stairs, and into an abandoned office.  
  
“An old friend used to work here,” Vincent said simply, walking over to stand by the window. It was shuttered but a sickly yellow light still shone through. All it did was cast Vincent into shadow. Cloud wondered if the man had planned it that way. “No one will disturb us.”  
  
Cloud wondered what happened to the old friend but didn’t ask. The dust settled on the lone desk in the room said it all.  
  
Dozens of questions flew through his mind, all vying for attention. One question won over the rest. “What did you mean earlier? The comment about Zack.”  
  
With the light shining as it was, Cloud couldn’t see Vincent’s face. He surreptitiously shifted, trying to get a better look. With his back to the window like it was, Vincent’s face seemed permanently captured in shadow. Sighing silently, Cloud gave up.  
  
Vincent spoke as if he hadn’t noticed Cloud’s awkward shifting. Cloud knew better. “You need rest. You are better protected against Jenova than your friends but without Hojo’s…manipulations, you lack a SOLDIER’s stamina. You have had no rest since this has begun, and you had no rest last night.”  
  
Cloud narrowed his eyes. He was incredibly tempted to jump on that, but he was afraid to know exactly how much Vincent watched him. Instead, he jumped on Vincent’s other comment. “How did you know Hojo?”  
  
That was what started this, after all. By Hel, that had been so long ago.   
  
Cloud might not be able to see it, but he could all but hear Vincent close himself off. He remained silent in his shadows and Cloud sighed, leaning against the wall. He leaned his sword on the wall beside him and slid down until he could stretch his legs out on the floor. For a long moment, all he could hear was his own breathing.  
  
“Nibelheim has hidden many secrets over the centuries.” Vincent’s voice made Cloud jump. His head snapped up, but all he could see was Vincent’s cloak wrapped around him. “Even now, when men have secrets to bury, they head to Nibelheim. I doubt they even know why.”  
  
There was something almost accusing in his voice. Cloud stared at the floor. He could clearly see his own footprints in the dust but not Vincent’s. Surprise, surprise.  
  
“Hojo knew something,” Vincent murmured. Cloud closed his eyes, ignoring the forgotten room to focus on Vincent’s voice. It was deep and surprisingly soothing. “I doubt we will ever discover how much Hojo knew, but he went to Nibelheim with a purpose. Of all the places he could have moved, he went there and stayed there.” Vincent quieted, but there was something ominous in that silence that sent chills up Cloud’s spine. “He knew enough that he wanted to make sure that no one else knew anything.”  
  
Cloud’s eyes snapped open. Vincent hadn’t moved but it didn’t matter. Cloud licked his lips.  
  
“Was that what happened to you?” he heard himself asking, but that wasn’t what he meant. He didn’t really know what he meant. He couldn’t think.   
  
_No one else…_  
  
Cloud closed his eyes again. He wasn’t going to think about it. They were talking about Hojo.  
  
“It’s happened to many,” Vincent answered, his voice closer than before. His flesh hand settled on Cloud’s shoulder. Its warmth surprised him. “Even to Turks.”  
  
Cloud’s eyes opened again. Vincent was kneeling before him, his cloak blocking out the yellow light. This close, Cloud could see Vincent’s eyes, blood-red and…concerned?  
  
“Turks?” he tested.  
  
Vincent tilted his head slightly. Yes. Then he added, his voice impossibly gentle compared to the shining claw resting by Cloud’s knees, “And SOLDIERS.”  
  
Cloud looked away from Vincent’s gaze. Vincent didn’t push but he did sit beside Cloud. The room fell silent.  
  
“He died in Wutai,” he said softly.  
  
Vincent didn’t answer.  
  
When Vincent left, it was with a quiet admonishment to rest and a reminder that even Zack had suggested it. Cloud only smiled at him and didn’t bother answering; they both knew what he was going to do, anyway.  
  
Feeling refreshed despite the lack of nap, Cloud continued to his unit‘s… _former_ unit’s barracks. He wondered idly how Vincent would have reacted if he had napped on his shoulder.  
  
For the rest of the walk, he focused on that and not Vincent’s words.  
  
His unit's section was part of a hangar that pretended to be barracks. Another unit’s barracks were separated from theirs by a thin sheet of metal in the middle of the hangar. If Cloud went straight to the barracks, everyone in both units would hear every question and answer. Instead, Cloud headed for the main office on the other side of the barracks.  
  
It was strange going there knowing it was under Sephiroth’s orders. Before Nibelheim, he had only interacted with Sephiroth informally; now he would be commanding members of his former company directly under Sephiroth.  
  
The sign outside the door was unobtrusive, just a brown plaque with ‘SFC Heinsten’ in simple black print. Still, Cloud could hear his heart pounding when he knocked.   
  
“Who is it?” the sergeant called, sounding bored. It made sense; Cloud’s section was largely made up of privates -- no one ever assigned anything interesting to his unit.  
  
Until now.  
  
Cloud took a deep breath and only stumbled a little over his new rank. “S-Sergeant Cloud Strife.”  
  
Silence. Cloud swallowed. It didn’t even sound right. Then again, he had thought the same of ‘Corporal.’ He figured he would have a while to adjust to the title.  
  
“Come in,” Sergeant Heinsten shouted after a long moment. Cloud flinched. Out of everything he had expected, his old sergeant’s wary tone was perhaps the worst. Still, he braced himself and swung open the door.  
  
Then Cloud realized the guarded look on Sergeant Heinsten’s face was, by far, worse than the wary tone.  
  
The sergeant stood as Cloud entered, his 6’2” frame looming easily over Cloud’s 5’5”. He clasped his battle-scarred hands behind his back, his sharp brown eyes staring hard at Cloud. Grey streaked, long black hair that had seen him all the way through his service in ShinRa was tied behind in a long ponytail behind him: his signature look. He was one of the few in the regular Army not to get a haircut. There were rumors that he had tried to get into SOLDIER but had failed, thus the irregular hairstyle. Cloud hoped not. That wouldn’t help his case at all.  
  
“Welcome back, Sergeant,” Heinsten greeted, his voice deceptively mild. Cloud drew himself straight and stood with his hands behind his back. He met Heinsten’s eyes. This was just his old sergeant. He knew this man. Heinsten knew him. Nothing to be nervous about. “I’ve heard many rumors about your mission; however, I hadn’t heard that one.”  
  
Cloud didn’t blink. “It was a field promotion, Sergeant,” was all he said. He had no idea what else to say. He didn’t even know what he had been promoted for.  
  
Regardless, Heinsten didn’t look impressed. He gestured at the chair in front of his desk. “Please, be seated.”  
  
Had that sounded as ominous before Cloud went to Nibelheim? After a second’s consideration, Cloud decided that it had, and he sat without a word.  
  
“I received paperwork from the General this morning clearing you from my section,” Heinsten said abruptly, and Cloud blinked. Definitely “old” unit then. “The General didn’t clarify your new position nor what circumstances decided that separation.” Heinsten stared at Cloud. “And I don’t suppose you can tell me, can you?”  
  
Cloud shook his head helplessly. “I don’t know how high the classification on this particular mission goes. I’m sorry.”  
  
Heinsten grunted and sat down in his chair. It squeaked under him. “Well, I always knew you would end up in the SOLDIERs’ ranks, anyway,” he said with a sigh. “I just expected it to take couple more years.”  
  
Cloud blinked at him. All right, he hadn’t been expecting that at all. “I--”  
  
With a wave of his hand, Heinsten dismissed that line of conversation. “But you didn’t come here to say hello. What brings you down here, Cloud?” He raised a bushy eyebrow. “Sergeant?”  
  
A groan slipped out before Cloud could stop it. And there was the flipside of the hardened sergeant.  
  
“Well, I need to know the security clearances of your highest ranking soldiers.”  
  
xoxoxox  
  
By Heinsten’s suggestion, Cloud stood beside his desk instead of in front of it as the privates piled in. To Cloud’s complete lack of surprise, Corporal Allen Cognin led the group, his green eyes guarded. Kelen Algeron followed but there was no sign of Jacob Ysir. Five more privates piled in, standing before Heinsten’s desk and going to parade rest. They lacked the grace and strength of the SOLDIERs, but all had the discipline to look at Heinsten instead of Cloud. Cloud couldn’t help but feel proud of them for that.  
  
“At ease,” Heinsten said crisply, and all but Allen relaxed. Now several of them glanced at Cloud. Cloud didn’t recognize the one wearing the PFC rank or one of the specialists, but he recognized the rest. Their faces were blank but Cloud could clearly see the confusion in their eyes. Like Allen, they would learn to hide that in time.  
  
Heinsten glanced at Cloud, and he realized with growing trepidation that this was where he was supposed to take over. He schooled his own features and straightened his back.  
  
“You were all suggested by Sergeant Heinsten based on both your security clearance and skills,” he began. He ignored how odd it was to give a briefing to people he had trained with. Allen was the leader, not he. “I would like to be able to call this a Top Secret mission, but it technically doesn’t exist. That means you will speak of it to no one, regardless of rank, security clearance, or classification. If they have any problems, direct them to General Sephiroth.”  
  
The speech didn’t quite as good as it had in his head, but Cloud got his point across. All of the soldiers stood a little straighter.  
  
“If you have any problems with this mission,” Cloud continued, “feel free to leave now. Doing so will not count against you in any way.” He paused a second and added, “Seriously. It won’t.”  
  
No one moved. Cloud bit back a smile.  
  
“The mission objective is to clear creatures from a lab.” Cloud thought over the phrasing. No, there was no way to clarify it without causing problems. “These creatures can move swiftly but seem to rely on triggers. Your job is to kill them before they have time to act. Focus on the creatures. Minimize damage to the laboratory at all costs; however, you are given permission to use Fire materia. Given the nature of this mission, you are free to use weapon of your choice, regardless of your current classification.” Cloud’s sword felt heavy on his back. “Any questions?”

“Yes.” Cloud wasn’t surprised that it was Allen who spoke up. “What is the nature of the threat?”  
  
Neither was he surprised that Allen was going to ask that. “Classified.”  
  
Allen’s eyes darkened. Cloud wondered what bothered him more: that Cloud knew or the unknown threat. He hoped it was the latter.  
  
“Do we have a number?” Specialist Jonsen Teague inquired. Cloud mentally applauded.   
  
“There was at least a dozen, but at this time we don’t have an exact number,” he replied. Cloud was pretty sure it has been that many, but there had also been feathers in the air and tentacles flailing around and a blow to the head to consider.  
  
Actually, his head still hurt a little. He didn’t think it was related to that, though.  
  
“Timeframe?” Kelen asked. His deep voice made the PFC beside him jump.  
  
“As soon as everyone is prepared.” Cloud glanced at the clock over Heinsten’s head. “It’s currently 1032. Upon release from here, I expect everyone to meet back here at 1100.” He glanced around. “Any more questions?”  
  
Silence.  
  
Cloud glanced at Heinsten. The sergeant inclined his head slightly. “Dismissed.”  
  
The group filed back out. Allen glanced at Cloud on the way out but Cloud couldn’t tell what he was thinking. And then they were gone.  
  
“Not bad, Sergeant,” Heinsten drawled. Cloud’s head whipped around and he stared at him. The man stood with his hands behind his back again, looking at the door. “Not bad at all.”  
  
xoxoxox  
  
Cloud thought of Zack before the mission to Nibelheim and what he had done. Then he pretended to be him. It gave him the courage to step up to each private and inspect their gear. It gave him the strength to look past the fact that these men used to be in his platoon, that they used to outrank him.   
  
Allen was last. Cloud met his eyes as he checked his gear -- nothing special, just the standard rifle -- and his materia. He had some of the higher leveled materia of the group. He nodded, satisfied. “All right,” he said aloud. “Allen and Jonsen: you two have the best materia. Allen, I want you to be behind me. Jonsen, you cover our six. We won’t go to the lab in any type of formation: just stick close. I don’t want it to be obvious that we’re on a mission.”  
  
No one nodded but all eyes remained on him. Cloud forced himself to meet their eyes. It was getting easier. He knew these people; they knew him. In a way, it was like any other mission. Technically, he wasn’t in charge; he was operating directly under Sephiroth’s orders. That rationale made everything a little bit easier.  
  
“Before the lab,” Cloud continued, “there’s a sectioned off room. That’s where we will form up. There’s a single door leading into the lab. I’ll open the door, and you’ll have a moment to spot your targets. Destroy your targets and try to keep the lab itself intact. Any questions?”

“Do we have to be in any particular formation when we get in there?” Specialist Ethan Vieheart asked.  
  
Cloud considered it for a moment, looking over the other privates. They stood straight, staring forward. Cloud wondered if they knew that he wasn’t going to be reporting every bit of their behavior to Sephiroth.  
  
“We’ll decide on the formation when we get there,” Cloud decided. “Anything else?”  
  
No one spoke. Cloud nodded to himself and glanced at Heinsten. The grizzled sergeant simply raised an eyebrow at him, as if saying, ‘This is your mission, not mine.’ Cloud nodded minutely at him.  
  
“I’ll take lead,” he said. “Stay with me, talk if you want. Once we get past a certain point, only SOLDIERs are going to be around to see us. I'd like to keep it as informal and loose as possible until absolutely necessary. If anyone tries to talk to you, have them direct their questions to me.”  
  
Still no comment. Cloud waited for a heartbeat. “All right. Follow me.”  
  
Allen kept step beside Cloud down the hall. Behind them, the troopers talked, and Cloud mentally cringed at how forced they sounded to his ears. Still, no one around them seemed to give them a second glance. Their eyes lacked the telltale glow and they wore uniforms instead of suits, making them worthless in the eyes of those around them. Cloud was beginning to grow attached to his unremarkable appearance.  
  
“What is going on, Cloud?” Allen whispered beside him.   
  
Cloud kept his focus on the path in front of him. He didn’t answer. Allen didn’t ask again.  
  
There were no SOLDIERs in the hall at all when Cloud led them upstairs. Cloud guessed Sephiroth had pulled them all as a safety measure. Who knew how far Jenova could reach beyond the labs? In the same instance, Cloud wished two SOLDIERs in particular were there. He felt naked without them behind him.  
  
As they kept walking, the conversations grew more fluid behind Cloud, and he found out more than he wanted about the sexual relations within his unit. He glanced at Allen out of the corner of his eye, but the other man’s face was unreadable.   
  
Cloud didn’t let himself think about it. His sword rested heavily on his back as they approached the lab. Fewer and fewer people appeared, and the conversations began quieting behind him. Cloud kept his pace steady, counting each quiet thud of his boot on the floor. Allen matched his pace.  
  
Two older troopers were standing at the door this time; Cloud recognized neither. Both nodded and stepped aside, and Cloud figured that Sephiroth had placed them. No inexperienced troopers this time. He tried not to wonder about why they had been placed there in the first place.  
  
Only when all of them were in the room and the door shut behind them did Cloud release a shaky exhale. Everyone quieted. Specialist Vieheart’s eyes were wide, and Jonsen kept licking his lips. Still, everyone armed themselves with casual skill.  
  
“Allen, you’re with me,” he repeated, hearing his heartbeat in his ears. “Jonsen, you have our six. Everyone, keep the damage to the lab itself minimal but otherwise use all necessary force.”  
  
Everyone nodded, pale and silent. Allen stood close to Cloud’s shoulder as they stepped up to the other door.  
  
“Where’s your materia, Cloud?” Allen asked quietly, too low for the others to hear.  
  
In response, Cloud pulled out his sword.   
  
xoxoxox  
  
“…and the creatures had only a minimal reaction, Sir,” Cloud continued, standing at parade rest. His left palm itched where his right hand rested over it, but he kept his arms relaxed and steady behind his back. It wasn’t easy with Sephiroth sitting behind his desk, face expressionless. It was like… Cloud’s hands twitched. “I believe it was in reaction to the preparatory shots troopers receives, but I don’t know for sure. No creature fought, and they were destroyed with minimal damage to the lab. The troopers were debriefed and released to SFC Heinsten.”  
  
Report finished, Cloud exhaled and fell silent. He didn’t mention Allen’s attitude or the look Allen gave him when he left Heinsten’s office. There was no reason to inflict his paranoia on Sephiroth.  
  
Sephiroth was equally quiet. Cloud wished Zack was there as Sephiroth crossed his fingers. Zack would know exactly what to say to break the silence.   
  
Except he had been oddly quiet earlier, too.  
  
At last Sephiroth nodded. “Very good work, Cloud. Return to your room and rest. The rest of the day is yours.”  
  
Cloud nodded back, wondering bleakly if he should salute or if he should just leave. Had it always been this awkward?  
  
He settled for a "Good day, Sir." Sephiroth nodded and looked down at his notes. Cloud swallowed and turned around. Sephiroth was right. So was Zack and Vincent. He needed rest.  
  
He reached the door before he heard Sephiroth say, "Cloud, wait."  
  
Cloud was turning back around before he knew quite what he was doing, the position of parade rest automatic. Sephiroth now stood behind his desk, eyes tight, mouth pursed. Cloud breathed slowly, nausea curling through his belly. He tried not to think.  
  
Sephiroth shifted, hands moving like he was about to mimic Cloud's position, but then his arms fell limply to his sides. He glanced once at Cloud's face and then stared above Cloud's head. "I...believe I should apologize."  
  
Cloud's throat felt tight. "Apologize, Sir?"  
  
Sephiroth looked him in the eyes for a split-second and then quickly looked away. "At ease, Cloud," he said quietly, voice too soft. "And yes. My actions in the lab were...unseemly."  
  
Swallowing back the bile rising in his throat, Cloud stared at Sephiroth's desk. _Don't think about it, don't think about it..._ Unseemly. And he wasn't going to think about it. "Yes, Sir."  
  
Sephiroth flinched a little, but Cloud couldn't bring himself to call him by his name, not now. There was no way he could do it now.  
  
He tried to straighten his shoulders, but it felt like a weight was pressing down on them. "Permission to be excused, Sir?"  
  
No answer. Cloud looked up through his lashes to see Sephiroth intently studying his face. Cloud didn't know what he expected to see, and he tried to keep his expression stoic. He would just go back to bed. That was it. Just go back to bed and pretend this whole damned day didn't --  
  
"It was unseemly," Sephiroth said slowly, as if he was testing out the syllables of each word. "I did not ask permission, and I was distracting you from battle."  
  
Cloud's head snapped up. Sephiroth looked paler than usual, expression still tight, but he was looking him in the eye now.  
  
"It was unseemly," he repeated. "Now...it is not quite as much?"  
  
Cloud stared at him, lips parted in shock. It sounded like he was asking Cloud that, which was ridiculous on so many levels that Cloud almost wanted to laugh.  
  
But Sephiroth didn't look like he was joking. He looked...hopeful?  
  
Cloud swallowed past the chunk of ice in his throat. "No," he croaked. "No, it's not."  
  
Not breaking eye contact, Sephiroth walked around his desk. Each step was measured, precise, hands loose at his sides. He looked like he was walking toward a dragon, and Cloud wanted to laugh except he couldn't breathe.  
  
"And I didn't ask last time," Sephiroth said when he stepped in front of Cloud, still sounding testing.  
  
Cloud licked his lips. He had no idea when they had gotten that dry. "Okay."  
  
He wasn't sure what he was answering to but it seemed to be answer enough. When Sephiroth leaned down, Cloud reached up.  
  
It was okay; Sephiroth's lips were dry, too.


	11. Chapter 11

Sephiroth kissed him…or had he kissed Sephiroth? But what about Sephiroth and Zack? Cloud couldn’t forget that. It featured whenever Cloud managed to snatch a few hours of sleep.  
  
And then there was Zack and Aeris. Cloud was almost a hundred percent positive there was a ZackandAeris, while he was a hundred percent positive there was a ZackandSephiroth.  
  
And now, maybe…SephirothandCloud?  
  
Cloud groaned, not bothering to open his eyes. He had finally managed to get back to his room to rest before dinner, but now his brain wouldn’t shut off. The entire thing was making his head hurt. His mother hadn’t warned him about mad scientists and tentacles, but she had warned him about city folk. Maybe if she had remained lucid a little longer, she could have been a bit more specific.  
  
Thinking of her made his head spin. Cloud closed his eyes a little tighter and rolled onto his side, stomach protesting the motion, and he made a mental note to stop eating from the cafeteria. Eating Nibel wolves was healthier than that crap – and if his mind would just shut up, he could get some sleep. With a groan, Cloud rolled onto his other side. He tried to think of the cool streams going down the Nibel Mountain, but saw only fire instead. He tried to focus on the surprising softness of his blanket, but felt only the brush of Sephiroth's lips against his.   
  
Cloud groaned and rolled over once more. His stomach seemed to keep moving, and he clutched at the pillow in his hands. “Hello, Vincent,” he murmured, not bothering to open his eyes. His mom probably would have invited Vincent to dinner and told him he was too thin.   
  
He felt Vincent’s hand brush against his forehead. It felt wonderfully cool, and Cloud sighed. Yeah, Ulfhilde would have loved Vincent.  
  
“You have a fever,” Vincent noted. Cloud hummed, not really caring. His mind was already skipping to something else.   
  
“Why did Zack call you the Turk Vincent Valentine?” Cloud asked, mind still back in Nibelheim. His mother hadn’t had a chance to meet Sephiroth or Zack, either. She would have fed them and talked about Zack’s hair. His dad had dark hair, too, though, so she might have even called Zack by his dad's name. For a moment, Cloud almost remembered his dad’s last name.  
  
Cloud missed her suddenly, more than he had in the entire two years he had lived in Midgar. You’re going to be just like your dad, she had told him once, and then her handwriting had drifted, changed, and she had started writing about the howling wolves. She had made him chicken soup before he’d left. He wouldn’t mind some chicken soup right now.  
  
Vincent touched his forehead again. “You need to sleep,” he said instead of answering, his tone mildly reproving. “You’re ill.”  
  
Cloud hummed again. He had been trying to sleep. After this morning -- had it only been this morning? -- and everything that had happened, Cloud thought it would be easy to sleep. Instead, he kept tossing and turning. He shoved off his blankets, only to quickly pull them back as the first rush of cold air hit. How long had he been in here, anyway?  
  
“How long have you been feeling ill?”  
  
Cloud turned toward the sound of Vincent’s voice. He swallowed the building saliva in his mouth before answering. “I’m not sick,” he protested. “Just tired.”  
  
But he couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was his body trying to remind him that sleeping in the middle of the day was bad. It certainly wouldn’t help him sleep tonight.  
  
Just as Cloud decided he was going to get up and do something, he felt something press against his shoulder. He opened his eyes a slit to see Vincent’s thigh right by his face, where the man had taken a seat on the edge of the bed. Vincent kept his flesh hand on Cloud’s forehead.  
  
“I was a Turk,” Vincent allowed. Cloud instantly settled. “And a foolish one. I grew arrogant where arrogance is lethal. And…I was naïve.” The bitterness in Vincent’s voice contrasted with the gentleness of his hand on Cloud’s forehead. Vincent’s thigh was tense against his shoulder. “She was beautiful, intelligent, and gentle. I was a fool.” Cloud tried to see Vincent’s face, only to realize his eyes had closed again. “We were both foolish, I suppose.”  
  
His voice was still bitter but soft, and his hand was nice and cool. Cloud listened as his body grew heavier.  
  
“She had a child, as beautiful and intelligent as she was. I look at him and I could believe…”  
  
Cloud wanted to ask what he meant, but he was already falling asleep.  
  
When he woke up again Vincent was gone, but there was a glass of water and two pills on his nightstand. “I’m not sick,” Cloud said aloud, but he still swallowed the pills. The water felt wonderful going down his parched throat and Cloud gulped it down. The room spun a little when Cloud climbed to his feet and he closed his eyes. “Just need some more water. That’s all.”  
  
He had no idea what time it was (he needed a new clock), but he figured it was around dinnertime. Lunch still settling poorly in his stomach, Cloud stood in the middle of the hallway, a little lost. He wanted to be with Zack and Sephiroth, and he scolded himself for his dependence. Besides, both men probably wanted a small break from him for a while.  
  
His former unit was another option, but after this morning’s mission, Cloud had no idea what his place was with them anymore. Allen’s attitude sealed his decision; he would visit them later.  
  
Cloud had no idea where Vincent was, but the man had made it more than clear that he could find Cloud when he needed him. After all, what help could Cloud provide with the investigation?

Going back to bed was another option, but Cloud had been lazy enough today.  
  
Another thought occurred to him and Cloud brightened. A smile on his face, Cloud started for the stables.  
  
It took longer than Cloud thought to find Vali. For some reason the stable master refused to house him with the others and he only gave Cloud a strange look when he asked why.  
  
The way the chocobo lit up when Cloud approached his dark, lonely corner made it worth it, though.  
  
“Hey, beautiful,” Cloud crooned, leaning into the stable. Vali rested his head on Cloud’s shoulder with a small chirp. “Have they been feeding you okay? I wish I knew what snacks you liked…”  
  
Vali brushed his beak against Cloud’s temple and began grooming his blond spikes. Cloud just closed his eyes and let him. Come to think of it, the hay in the stall looked incredibly comfortable. Maybe a small nap wouldn’t hurt. Vali certainly wouldn’t mind.  
  
Cloud leaned a little heavier against the stall door. Or maybe, he thought ruefully, it’s time to find out where Zack keeps that coffee.  
  
Vali kweh‘d softly and nuzzled his hair. Not opening his eyes, Cloud began petting his neck.  
  
“Y’know, that one has almost every chocobo in here running scared."  
  
Vali’s feathers ruffled before the speaker finished the first syllable. Startled, Cloud opened his eyes and turned around. Why didn’t he hear anyone coming?  
  
An unfamiliar redhead slouched against a door two stalls down. He smiled cheerfully at Cloud, hands in his pockets.  
  
“War chocobo, right?” the man asked, nodding at Vali. “Bet he saw some decent time in Wutai.”  
  
Other than his ruffled feathers, Vali hadn’t moved, sharp eyes on the stranger. Cloud continued petting him, not looking away from the redhead. He suddenly realized he had left his rifle and sword in his room.  
  
“Who are you?” Cloud demanded. The knowledge that Vali had his back comforted him a little, but the incident with the plane and being jumped in Midgar left him paranoid. The stranger’s cocky smile didn’t help.  
  
The stranger raised his hands. “Hey, hey, hey! I mean no harm.” He flashed his teeth in a bright smile. “My name’s Reno. You’re Cloud, right?”  
  
Reno. Cloud remembered Zack mentioning that name. His eyes widened in alarm. “You’re a Turk.”  
  
It was strange how, with everything that had happened, he had forgotten that whole ‘shooting Hojo’ thing. Huh.  
  
Reno kept his hands raised. “Breathe, kid. You look white as a ghost.” He paused as if in consideration. “Actually, you looked pretty pale, anyway. You haven’t been eating the cafeteria food, have you? ‘Cuz I know a couple places…”  
  
“What do you want?” Cloud interrupted. He kept one hand on Vali’s neck, the other clenching and unclenching at his side. He had a knife still in his boot, but he doubted he could get to it before the Turk moved. He was never leaving his room short of full battle-rattle again.  
  
Reno shrugged, hands unmoving above his shoulders. “What can I say? I was curious. There are a lot of rumors around about the little chocobo that could --”  
  
Cloud’s eyes narrowed. Whatever Reno saw on his face made him take several steps back but his smile only faltered a little.  
  
“Lots of rumors flying,” Reno amended smoothly. “Heard about you keeping up with two SOLDIERs,” Reno’s own eyes narrowed, “and taking out Hojo despite two Turks being there.”  
  
Cloud flinched a little.  
  
Reno shrugged again, smile bright on his face. “Things like that tend to attract a little interest, y’know?” Another flash of teeth. “Especially when the person responsible didn’t even pass the SOLDIER exam.”  
  
For the first time, Cloud looked away from Reno, his hand tightening in Vali’s feathers. “Well, you’ve seen me,” he said shortly. “Now leave.”  
  
Vali squawked sharply, as if backing up Cloud’s words. Reno finally dropped his hands, but he kept his palms facing Cloud.  
  
“Hey, you can’t blame me for being curious,” Reno protested. “Everyone is. Like I said, the rumors are flying. Everyone wants to know about Sephiroth’s new Shadow.”  
  
Cloud’s head snapped back up. His stomach and head both protested the move, but he barely noticed. There was that term again. He was really going to have to sit on Zack and make him explain a few things.  
  
“A lot of rumors about the SOLDIER exam, too,” Reno continued, his smile softening now that he had Cloud’s interest. “Like maybe you said no to the wrong guy or said yes to the wrong one or…” Reno paused. Cloud leaned a little closer. "That the age standard is sixteen and you weren't old enough when you took the exam the first time."  
  
Cloud leaned back, disappointed. “That’s it?” After everything, all that fight and fuss and self-blame and even crying on Zack’s shoulder, it was about his age?  
  
Reno shrugged and leaned against the stall. “Hey, if you don’t believe me, you can ask the General himself. Sounds like he has an open-door policy for you.” Reno paused and tilted his head. “Or you can go to bed. You look like you’re the chocobo who spent time in Wutai, not your buddy.”  
  
While Cloud sputtered, Reno tossed him a wink and turned to leave. “Oh,” he called over his shoulder, “just so y’know? You’re the right age for a new Turk.”  
  
Cloud glared at the Turk’s back before turning to Vali. “I do not look like a chocobo.”  
  
Vali chirped and began grooming his hair.  
  
After promising to return soon with some fresh greens, Cloud headed to Sephiroth’s office. No matter what else Reno was babbling about, he was right. As head of SOLDIER, Sephiroth not only knew about SOLDIERs but SOLDIER-recruits. He would know if it was just his age.  
  
If it was…if it wasn’t his fault…  
  
The halls were empty and silent, everyone in the cafeteria for dinner or in Midgar for dinner. Sephiroth’s door was open a crack, and as Cloud drew closer, he could clearly hear Sephiroth’s voice in the quiet.  
  
“…didn’t realize psychological factors so strongly influenced the possibility of mako poisoning. …Yes, Doctor. I suppose a strong sense of self-awareness would play a good part.”  
  
Cloud pulled back, not wanting to interrupt the phone call, but Sephiroth had already noticed him. Cloud couldn’t make out what he said next, but then the older man called out, “Come in.”  
  
Cloud’s cheeks felt hot as he stepped into the room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”  
  
Sitting behind his desk again with the phone in its cradle, Sephiroth waved away his words. Still, his face looked pinched. Cloud wondered how long he had been sitting in his office. “You can always come in, Cloud,” Sephiroth reassured him. He stared at Cloud for a moment, as if looking for something. Cloud didn’t know what he saw, but it made Sephiroth relax.  
  
“Cloud,” he began, standing up. Sephiroth frowned, studying him again. “Are you feeling all right? You look flushed.”  
  
Well, last time he had been standing here Sephiroth had been kissing him, so being flushed was understandable. Cloud didn’t say that out loud, though; he simply shook his head. The pounding in his temples made him instantly regret the motion. “I’m fine.”  
  
Acting like he hadn't heard him, Sephiroth walked around his desk and stood in front of Cloud. Cloud's flush only deepened when Sephiroth put his fingers under his chin and tilted his face up.  
  
"You look feverish," Sephiroth said, and it occurred to Cloud that Sephiroth sounded a lot like Vincent when he said that. "Did you rest earlier?"  
  
Even as he was speaking, he touched Cloud's waist with his other hand and led him over to the couch. Cloud ducked his head so Sephiroth wouldn't see him grimace. He'd been there once today already.  
  
"I slept in my room a little after lunch, but I feel fine," Cloud lied. Maybe he didn't feel the greatest but today had been kind of stressful. The cafeteria food couldn't have helped. He wasn‘t sick. "Really."  
  
Cloud started when both of Sephiroth's hands dropped. He turned to see him better. Sephiroth looked a little flushed, his eyes a tad too bright. Cloud stepped toward him. "Sephiroth?"  
  
He almost said ‘Seph’ but he managed to spit out the rest. Not yet. Maybe later.  
  
Sephiroth touched his cheek before dropping his hand back to his side. "Maybe..." Sephiroth shook his head, and Cloud watched him, fascinated. He had never seen Sephiroth this flustered, not even when he was adjusting to his change.  
  
Cloud forced a smile, even as he clenched his fists at his sides. He wasn‘t sick. "I'm okay. You can go back to your paperwork and I'll go back to my room. My question can wait."  
  
And it could, Cloud decided. It was a stupid question to bother him with anyway. Besides, Zack would know. He could just ask Zack later. Where was Zack, anyway?  
  
Sephiroth grabbed his elbow before he could move. "You don't have to leave," he said quickly. He glanced at the couch. Cloud followed his gaze. "My work won't take much longer. You can stay here."  
  
Cloud smiled back, feeling flustered himself. Not knowing what to say, he nodded and settled on the couch, figuring he could wait if it would make Sephiroth feel better. When he stretched out on the couch, Sephiroth touched his forehead before returning to his desk. Cloud fell asleep to Sephiroth's pen scratching on paper.  
  
When he awoke again, it was to the feel of fingers on his forehead and Sephiroth's voice above his head.  
  
"He is feverish, Zack," he heard. "No, I don't...I... Are you almost done in Midgar? No. No. He was sick earlier, but he said he was all right. ...yes. I --"  
  
Cloud squinted, feeling his pulse pound in his temples. The first thing he saw was Sephiroth's tentacles in front of his face _. I hope he took his pants off first_ , Cloud thought.  
  
"Wait, he's awake." A tentacle brushed against Cloud's face, only to quickly jerk away. Without thinking, Cloud reached out and brushed his fingers against it.  
  
"I don't mind," he said quietly, voice unexpectedly hoarse. He had meant to get more water earlier. Had he forgotten?  
  
Sephiroth fell quiet above him, and then a tentacle slithered back to wrap gently around Cloud's wrist. Cloud shifted so he could pull it under his head, using it as a pillow.  
  
"Come back soon," Sephiroth said quietly, and then he lowered himself so he was face-to-face with Cloud.  
  
"I'm okay," Cloud repeated. He looked at Sephiroth once before letting his eyes close. He wasn't sick, he was just tired. He hadn't slept well last night because of that strange dream, after all. And he was still thirsty. He really needed to remember to get that water.  
  
Sephiroth touched his forehead again and then his cheeks. Cloud opened his eyes just enough to see Sephiroth frowning down at him. With his free hand, Cloud reached up and gently patted Sephiroth’s arm. “I’m okay.”  
  
For some reason, Cloud had a strange sense of déjà vu.  
  
Sephiroth was still frowning, though. He kept touching Cloud’s face, eyes intense with concentration as if he was expecting by force of will to see what was wrong with Cloud.  
  
“I’m okay,” Cloud said, his eyes closing again.  
  
He was okay. He had to be okay.   
  
“…looks thin,” he heard next, and Cloud was really getting tired of time slipping from him like that.  
  
“…stress?”  
  
“…not a SOLDIER.”  
  
Cloud strained to hear but then the world slipped sideways again.  
  
He awoke to ice pressing against his lips. Not opening his eyes, he sucked it into his mouth. He wondered where he could get more.  
  
“You back with us, Spike?” Zack asked.  
  
Zack. Cloud forced his eyes open. The world blurred for a moment, and then Zack’s face came into view. Zack smiled at him, violet eyes gone dark.  
  
“Hey,” Cloud said, blinking up at him. He looked behind Zack, trying to see Sephiroth. It wasn’t hard. Sephiroth stood right at Zack’s shoulder, normal legs instead of tentacles under him again. He had either taken his pants off before he changed or he kept extra pants in his office. Cloud was guessing both.  
  
“You’re running a bit of a fever there, Spike,” Zack commented, sitting on his heels. “You need to start taking better care of yourself.”  
  
Cloud scowled at him. He wasn’t sick; he was just tired.  
  
He wasn’t weak, dammit.  
  
Cloud blinked as Zack flicked his nose. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. You’ve been getting tossed around pretty regularly lately. You’re allowed to get sick.” Cloud glared at him, but all Zack did was flick his nose again. Cloud’s eyes crossed. “I got you some water. Drink a bit and get some more sleep.”  
  
Sephiroth leaned forward and Cloud noticed he had a glass of water in his hands. Suddenly reminded of his dry throat, Cloud barely kept himself from snatching it out of his hands. A voice in the back of his mind whispered about dehydration and fevers, but Cloud resolutely ignored it.  
  
Sephiroth’s worried eyes didn’t help.  
  
Only Zack’s urging kept Cloud from gulping down the water. He shouldn’t need to be told that and he knew he didn't need to be told but he was tired and so damned thirsty. It was mostly due to Sephiroth’s steady stare that he drank slowly. Not meeting either of their eyes, Cloud handed the glass back and settled back onto the couch. He glanced behind Zack to see the clock on the wall.  
  
Twenty-two-hundred hours. Cloud almost laughed. Only? So he was tired, not sleepy; but he closed his eyes again anyway, if only to get away from those worried eyes.  
  
Cloud stayed still and quiet, feeling their eyes on him. He concentrated on breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth and pretended he could make the sickness go away with sheer will power.  
  
The weakness would go away.  
  
Sephiroth and Zack fell quiet, as if any noise would wake him up. Cloud guessed they had forgotten that even before Nibelheim and Wutai and sleeping in the field, he had slept in a barracks surrounded by other privates. A little bit of noise wouldn’t bother him.  
  
He told himself he couldn’t sleep because he had been sleeping all day, not because his head was throbbing. Cloud focused on his breathing like he had when he had been young and his nightmares kept him awake, and after a while, Zack and Sephiroth began talking. Their voices were low, but Cloud could still make out bits of the conversation.  
  
“…platoon right outside of Midgar.”  
  
“An entire platoon?”  
  
“Without a trace. Seph, they were patrolling the area where we were attacked by the wolves.”  
  
“…”  
  
“Troopers won’t cut it. They need SOLDIER.”  
  
“And what about the marsh?”  
  
“Just like everywhere else. Irregular monster activity: bigger, meaner, all with glowing eyes.”  
  
“…I see.”  
  
Cloud was afraid he saw, too.  
  
“And Seph?”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“Scientists have disappeared from Junon, too.”  
  
The conversation quieted, and Cloud drifted off again.


	12. Chapter 12

It smelled appetizing.  
  
It looked appetizing.  
  
It gave under his fork but didn’t threaten to bite back…  
  
Cloud finished studying his food and raised an eyebrow at Zack. Zack simply grinned back.  
  
Only Zack would get take-out and eat it in the cafeteria.  
  
“You’re supposed to eat it,” Zack pointed out, raising his voice to be heard over the new wave of chattering cadets. Cloud looked away from his plate to look at them. He wondered how many only had that energy because they knew they were heading toward coffee. It couldn’t be the cafeteria food that roused them.  
  
He looked down again when Zack scooted Cloud’s plate closer to him. Zack’s breakfast was long gone, but between his sore back from sleeping on Sephiroth’s couch all night and his continued nausea, Cloud couldn’t find the drive to eat.  
  
“I know it’s not what you’re used to,” Zack commented, looking around. One cadet visibly flinched away from his scrambled eggs. “But I think you’ll like it, anyway.”  
  
Cloud looked away from his food to study the cadet’s scrambled eggs. He couldn’t tell if those were bits of eggshell or teeth. Cloud shuddered and turned back to his food. That didn’t help his appetite at all.  
  
He glanced back at Zack; the other man’s lips moved like he was testing some words. Zack snapped his mouth shut when Cloud glared. One more word about the doctor and Zack would be the one eating those scrambled eggs.  
  
As if sensing Cloud’s thoughts, Zack grabbed Cloud’s spoon and pulled it out of his reach. He prodded Cloud’s cooling bacon with it.  
  
“We never had bacon back home,” Zack commented, voice a little wistful. “Lots of frog legs, though.”  
  
Grabbing his fork to defend his bacon, Cloud glanced curiously at Zack. When was the last time he had heard Zack mention Gongaga? “Really?”  
  
Zack quickly pulled Cloud’s bacon toward him. Cloud defiantly stabbed it. His plastic fork gave first. “Yeah. Had to watch which ones you ate, but there were plenty to eat. Part of the reason I split from Gongaga was to get away from the damned things.”  
  
Zack nudged at Cloud’s bacon again. Cloud scooped it up with his fork and bit down hard on it. Undeterred by this minor defeat, Zack reached for Cloud’s biscuit, spoon scraping the butter on top.  
  
“When ShinRa came, we got more variety, as well as better technology,” Zack continued, putting a “Z” design on Cloud’s biscuit. “We still had frog legs, but at least we had the running water to better wash them off, not to mention us.”  
  
Cloud snatched the biscuit away from Zack. It already had a “Za” written in the butter. He pointedly bit that part off. Then he smacked the hand that was reaching for his juice.  
  
“I actually like the streams,” Cloud said, pulling his juice closer. It was orange juice, even. “They were nice and cool, and no one else wanted to come near them.”  
  
Zack paused, spoon still in the air. Warm butter slid off to plop on the table. It camouflaged perfectly with the other stains. “Because of the wolves?” he inquired, voice even.  
  
Taking a second to lick some butter off his bottom lip, Cloud nodded. It was nothing compared to the butter from home, but it was better than what he usually ate in the cafeteria. “Yeah.” He eyed Zack oddly. “And what is it with you and the wolves?”  
  
Zack shook his head, lips quirked. “Nothing.” His left hand edged toward Cloud’s juice; Cloud smacked it again.  
  
“Some of the older men especially smelled.” Cloud wrinkled his nose. “I think the running water was one of the few things my mama liked about ShinRa.”  
  
Too bad she often forgot they were even there. Cloud shook his head. Even with the technology in the town booming as he grew older, the Strifes more often than not relied on the old methods. Ulfhilde kept forgetting they had the newer options.  
  
Or maybe she did it on purpose. He never knew for sure with her.  
  
While Cloud defended his juice, Zack reached with his other hand for the uneaten half of the biscuit. Cloud began nibbling on it.   
  
“Soap was a great invention,” Zack said with a small laugh. “I think that was one of the main reasons everyone welcomed ShinRa into their towns.”  
  
“No more making it by hand,” Cloud agreed, finishing off the biscuit with one bite.  
  
“No more destroying aluminum spoons,” Zack added. Cloud idly smacked his hand from his juice again.  
  
“What’s this about destroying spoons?” a familiar voice asked idly. Cloud tensed. He hadn’t even heard him come up.  
  
Zack’s smile didn’t falter. The shine of his eyes grew brighter, though. “Soap,” he told Reno cheerfully, not even flinching when the Turk sat at the small table across from him. Cloud had to release his juice so he didn’t suddenly smash it. Zack took that as an invitation to try to steal it again. Cloud had to look away from Reno’s smiling face to defend it. “I thought Mom was going to kill Dad after that.”  
  
Cloud thought of his mother making soap, explaining the process to him like he hadn’t done it before himself…explaining it to a lover who had been dead for years. He didn’t say that, though.   
  
Zack sighed dramatically. Reno looked back and forth between them, bemused. “And he tried using her cooking herbs for scent.”  
  
Cloud sighed, shoulders drooping. Not looking up, he smacked Zack’s hand away from his juice again. “Let me guess: tastes great but doesn’t actually do anything?”  
  
“Except waste her herbs and attract bugs,” Zack agreed. “And he was using her good wooden spoon to stir it.”  
  
Even as Zack smiled, Cloud saw him still eying his juice. Cloud opened it and put it to his lips. “What happened after that?”  
  
Zack laughed, violet eyes unwavering on Cloud’s juice. Cloud pointedly drank it. “It took him two weeks to go to the next town and buy new spoons and stuff. Then another two weeks because he bought the wrong stuff.”  
  
Cloud tried not to laugh. At least if he laughed up the juice, Zack still wouldn’t get it.   
  
Reno raised an eyebrow. “Are you talking about making soap?”  
  
Cloud finished his juice. Very nice, no pulp. One thing he and his mother never agreed on. He busied himself with that, looking at his mostly empty tray. When had that happened? Apparently Zack’s hands were busier than he thought.  
  
Even now, Zack’s spoon edged toward Cloud’s eggs. “And the joy of showers.”  
  
Cloud’s fork interrupted the spoon. “I like the streams, but they made things easier in the winter,” he admitted. His fork cut off Zack’s spoon again. Zack’s spoon slinked back. Cloud prodded his eggs, as if making sure they weren’t going to run off after the spoon.  
  
When he looked up, Reno was staring at the pair in a way that was eerily reminiscent of Hojo’s when he found a new specimen. The last time Cloud had met him, Hojo had looked at Cloud like that.  
  
In fact, that might have been his dying expression.  
  
“Okay,” Reno said slowly, standing back up. His bright eyes drifted to Cloud’s face. “I’ll leave you two to that.”  
  
Reno smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. Cloud glanced at Zack, who smiled an identical smile at Reno.   
  
“Sure you don’t want to stay?” Zack asked. “We haven’t even mentioned toilets yet. Man, I remember --”  
  
“Later,” Reno interrupted. He flapped his hand over his shoulder like he was waving, and then the redhead vanished into the mass of soldiers.  
  
Cloud watched him leave out of the corner of his eye. “Friend of yours?” The egg was already on his fork, so he absently bit it off.  
  
“Working relationship,” Zack corrected. His spoon tapped beside Cloud’s eggs. He looked like he was smiling at Cloud, but his violet eyes focused beyond him. “Hard for outsiders to be friends with Turks.”  
  
Cloud looked up sharply at Zack’s tone, but the other man was still smiling.  
  
Resting his spoon on Cloud’s plate, Zack stood up. He stretched his arms over his head and cracked his knuckles. Cloud winced at the loud pops. “Well, I’m going to go check on Seph. Why don’t you go back to your quarters. You’re still a little feverish.”  
  
No hint of a question colored Zack’s words. Cloud scowled, but Zack didn’t give him time to answer.  
  
“Oh, and Cloud? Lock your door.”  
  
When Reno walked away, he vanished into the crowd. When Zack left, the crowd quickly parted around him. Cloud clutched his fork and watched him go. He only waited a second before pushing away from the table, too. He left a bite of his eggs behind.  
  
It was happening just like Cloud thought it would. He shook his head a little as he walked, trying to knock the thoughts away, but they wouldn’t leave him alone.  
  
Cloud knew he was being ridiculous, especially since Zack had just spent the morning talking to him about _soap_ of all things…except that little voice in the back of his mind had been whispering how this was all temporary since Nibelheim.  
  
Lost in thought, Cloud touched his lips. They felt dry and chapped under his fingers.  
  
The shadows flickered in his doorway. Cloud moved before he even knew what he was doing. A moment later, the world was spinning, his nausea back with a vengeance, and Reno was backing away from Cloud’s door, Cloud’s knife to his throat.  
  
“Easy, killer,” Reno started, but Cloud cut him off.  
  
“What are you doing here? And why are you at my door?”  
  
The small enclave had almost hidden the slender Turk. Was he trying to jump Cloud? No, then Cloud would be down already. Cloud glared at him. Trying to mess him with him then? Like he had at the stables?  
  
Except Turks never _just_ messed with people.  
  
Reno held up his hands like he had in the stables. This time, though, there was no Vali at Cloud’s back. “I was just passing on a message, that’s all. No need to ruffle your feathers.”  
  
Cloud narrowed his eyes into slits. Reno shrugged one shoulder. “It’s the hair. And the eyes, but mostly the hair.”  
  
Cloud’s fingers twitched on the hilt. The blade slid over Reno’s throat. Reno took a step back, hands steady in the air. “Think you could put that down now?” he inquired. “It’s hard to pass on a message with a hole in your throat.”  
  
Point made, Cloud lowered his knife but didn’t put it away. Reno didn’t comment; he simply put his hands down.  
  
“You’d be wasted on SOLDIER, ya know,” Reno commented casually, leaning against the wall. He shoved his hands in his pockets and crossed one foot over the other. “If SOLDIER even exists now.”  
  
Cloud clenched his knife, wishing it was his sword. “What’s that supposed to mean?”  
  
Another one-shoulder shrug. “Just sayin’. Did you really think it through? You’re talented and shit, sure, but you really want that spotlight? That’s the point of SOLDIER, y’know. _Show_ of force.”  
  
Cloud took a step back before he knew what he was doing. Reno grinned lazily.  
  
“And then there’s the problem of who’s runnin’ the SOLDIER program, since you killed the head honcho and all. Might make things a little hard. Maybe something a little quieter is more up your alley, ya know?”  
  
“Was that the message?” Cloud snapped. His head spun. Reno kept grinning.  
  
“Nah. Just that you might want to keep your chocobo under wraps. It‘s a little familiar, if ya know what I mean.” Reno winked and slid away from the wall. “The rest was just friendly advice.” Another lazy grin, like a sleeping dragon’s, over Reno’s shoulder. “Later.”  
  
When Cloud finally let himself into his room, he locked the door behind him.  
  
xoxoxox  
  
Cloud didn’t remember falling asleep. One minute he was cleaning his blade and the next Vincent was whispering “Cloud” in his ear. He jerked awake, almost cracking his head on his headboard. Vincent’s human hand behind his head stopped him.  
  
“Hi, Vincent,” Cloud greeted drolly, shaking his head. He still felt half-asleep, the world blurry and unformed around him.  
  
Vincent pulled away and stood, his cape swishing around him. Cloud blinked at him. He noticed his sword propped against the wall behind Vincent, his cleaning kit neatly put away and sitting on his nightstand.  
  
“You have attracted the Turks’ attention,” Vincent said, the mildest rebuke tingeing his words.  
  
“I figured that one out myself.” Cloud stretched and heard/felt something in his back crack. “I should be okay if I can just keep my head down.”  
  
He didn’t really believe that, and judging by Vincent’s arched eyebrow, neither did he.  
  
“They’ve tried pulling your records,” Vincent continued, brushing past Cloud’s words. “Most of it is highly classified. Most of it was classified before your return to Midgar.”  
  
Cloud sat up straight on the bed. A distant part of his mind noted how often the pair conversed in his bedroom. “What does that mean?”  
  
Vincent stared steadily at him. “You were chosen purposefully for the Nibelheim mission. I’m still investigating.”  
  
Cursing, Cloud swung his legs off the bed. They felt heavy and lax; apparently, his unplanned nap hadn’t helped as much as he would have liked. “Any news on the missing scientists?”

“No,” Vincent said quietly. “Tell the SOLDIER that locked doors mean nothing to a Turk.”  
  
Cloud didn’t watch him walk away; his blue eyes focused on his sword.  
  
He was chosen purposefully. They were never meant to leave Nibelheim intact.  
  
Cloud stood and grabbed his sword. When he left his room this time, he was far more armed than just a knife.  
  
Neither Zack nor Sephiroth were in Sephiroth’s office; nor were they in Zack’s quarters. Cloud restlessly prowled through the halls, paranoia whispering in the back of his mind. His feet finally led him to the gym. He only hesitated a moment before pushing his way inside.  
  
The mat-littered room stood empty, the bright florescent lights shining off the scattered weights. Cloud glanced at the black and white clock on the far wall. Most of the lower enlisted were probably in either classes or post-lunch drills. Were the higher-ups with Sephiroth and Zack?  
  
Cloud shoved those thoughts from his mind. He would worry about it later. It had been too long since he practiced. If he wanted to be a SOLDIER (if his chances hadn’t died with Hojo), he needed practice.

He began sweating at the very beginning of his katas. Cloud gritted his teeth and swung his sword through the air, thinking of Zack’s effortless motions with his Buster Sword.  
  
There was too much happening. He felt like he was drowning in plots and conspiracies and knowing looks. Everyone was scheming and whispering around him and he was tired of it.  
  
Gritting his teeth, he swung the blade toward the mat --  
  
And struck a new blade.  
  
Cloud jumped backward and defensively held his sword in front of him. Glowing eyes glared at him.  
  
A SOLDIER, but not one Cloud had met before, not even from before Nibelheim when Zack would drag him around. Tall and dark with bright green eyes, the SOLDIER paced back and forth in front of Cloud, never looking away from his face. Cloud stared back, feeling sweat trickle down his spine.  
  
“I guess being called Sephiroth’s Shadow has gone to your head,” the stranger mocked. “Not even a respectful ‘Sir’?”  
  
Cloud narrowed his eyes, lips tight. Once upon a time, it would have been an automatic reaction when seeing those glowing eyes. He wasn’t sure what had changed. He only knew this asshole had struck first.  
  
And after this he really, really needed to pin Zack down and have him explain some things.  
  
“What?” the SOLDIER mocked. “Nothing to say? Or just not so brave without the General and colonel behind you?”

“Or maybe you’re just this brave without them behind me?” Cloud snapped before he could stop himself. As the man bristled, Cloud found himself wondering if he had a certain red-eyed someone behind him now.  
  
For this asshole’s sake, he hoped not.  
  
The SOLDIER sliced his blade through the air. It whistled in front of Cloud. Cloud didn’t blink. “C’mon then. Show me what you got.”  
  
Cloud didn’t move; he just watched the SOLDIER. As tall and broad as the Buster Sword in his hands, the SOLDIER could easily kill him. With those muscles bulging in his black uniform, the man had undoubtedly been strong _before_ the chemical enhancements of SOLDIER.  
  
But he was also wielding a Buster Sword three times larger than Zack’s, a show of force if Cloud had ever seen one. It reminded Cloud of when the dragons in the mountains would extend their wings and roar, making themselves bigger and tougher than they really were. A SOLDIER who had an ounce of cunning and skill wouldn’t need something like that.  
  
And he already showed he wasn’t expecting much from Cloud. Cloud relaxed, feeling the perfect balance of his blade. Even if he couldn’t win, he could shut this guy up.  
  
Another swish of the SOLDIER’s blade. Cloud held steady. “Well?” the man taunted. “You worked so hard for that sword. Aren’t you going to show me you know how to use it?”  
  
Filth lined every word; Cloud still didn’t blink. The bullies in Nibelheim said worse about Cloud and his mother.  
  
Another thing had taught him about bullies: “If anyone knows about using swords, it would be you. Sir.”  
  
Taunting was a great weapon. Especially against someone who wasn’t used to being taunted back.  
  
“Little shit!” The blade swung but the movement was exaggerated, telegraphed long before the sword even moved. Cloud dodged with ease, even if the lights flickered for a moment before his eyes. He practiced with _Zack_. Zack never telegraphed.  
  
The SOLDIER flushed. Cloud stood still again, letting the world settle around him. Okay: too much dodging was bad. Next step then. “If your aim’s always that bad, it’s no wonder you haven’t made First yet.”  
  
The flush slid down that thick neck. Most bullies were rarely bullied back. SOLDIERs? Never mocked back.  
  
Cloud felt too hot, sweat making his uniform cling. Quick, quick. “Or is it make _Second_ like that? I hope your catching’s better.”  
  
No yell this time, just an attack, but Cloud saw it coming long ago. Cloud barely had to duck -- most SOLDIERs weren’t used to opponents of his height -- and then he was pressed against the SOLDIER’s chest, sword against his throat. The SOLDIER froze; Cloud felt him shake.  
  
“Don’t,” Cloud heard, as if the words were coming from someone else’s mouth, “fuck with me today.”  
  
Point made, Cloud stepped back. The SOLDIER just stared at him, green eyes wide. Cloud couldn’t hold his gaze, feeling drained and too damned hot. When he fell to his knees, he stubbornly held his sword the whole way down.  
  
“Cloud!” Then Zack was at his side, strong arm behind Cloud’s back. The blond smiled tiredly at him. He should have known his friend wasn’t too far away. “What are you doing here? I’ve been looking everywhere for you? Didn’t I tell you to stay in bed?”  
  
Cloud wanted to rest his head on Zack’s shoulder, but he was too aware of the SOLDIER in front of them. “You never said ‘stay.’”  
  
Zack growled. “It was _implied_.” As if noticing the other SOLDIER for the first time, Zack looked up and stared at him. “Miroslaw! What are you doing here? Your comrades are still debriefing.”  
  
Miroslaw flushed and took a step back. All the fight had fled him. Now he looked back and forth between Cloud and Zack, hand clenching convulsively on the hilt of his sword. “Sir!” His free hand jerked like he was thinking of saluting, froze at his side, and then Miroslaw nodded sharply. “I’ll rejoin them in the bay, Sir!”  
  
Cloud thought he felt Miroslaw’s eyes on him the entire way out of the room but was too tired to care. Now that Zack brought it up, his bed did sound good…  
  
No. Cloud quickly shook his head, ignoring the way it made the room spin. “What’s going on, Zack?” he snapped. “Why does everyone keep calling me Sephiroth’s Shadow? Why does Reno keep bothering me? What is going on with you and Sephiroth?”  
  
There were more questions raging in Cloud’s chest, but he was out of breath. Even when he caught his breath again, though, Zack’s pained grimace kept him from continuing.  
  
“Shit, Cloud.” Zack’s free hand rested over Cloud’s on his sword. Cloud felt Zack’s breath against his ear. “I thought you knew.”  
  
Knew _what_? He kept quiet, though. Zack’s hand felt cool over his overheated one.  
  
Zack pressed against him like this made Cloud think of Sephiroth’s kiss and Zack and Sephiroth in the field and the noises they made and no, that wasn’t what he was thinking of right now. Focus!  
  
“Sephiroth’s Shadow was what they started calling me after I started following him around.” More warm breath against his ear; a golden strand of hair fluttered against Cloud’s cheek. “I had to watch after him, you know? I mean, he had no one.” Zack laughed faintly. “If Aeris could have, she would have started trailing after him like a mama chocobo, but she couldn’t, so I took care of him.”  
  
Aeris. Cloud shivered a little. Did she know? About Zack and Sephiroth? Cloud couldn’t see her _not_ knowing. From what he had seen so far, she probably approved.  
  
The arm around Cloud’s back began to move; Zack’s other hand rubbed against Cloud’s far arm. “You’re burning up. Let’s --”  
  
Cloud settled more firmly on the mat. “Finish explaining,” he ground out. If they tried to move from here, Cloud would never hear the end of it. The wolves would probably start directly attacking Midgar or a giant rock would fall from the sky or _something_.  
  
Zack laughed quietly again. It sounded too soft coming from him. “Okay, okay. So they started calling me that because I was always a step behind him, and I figured you would, too. I think you earned the title when you dragged him and his tentacles up the mountain rather than let Hojo and his goons get him.”  
  
Cloud huffed, feeling more heat rising in his cheeks. He had a feeling there was more to it, but that was good enough for now.  
  
“And I think the Turks have their eye on you.” Cloud involuntarily snorted; Zack squeezed him close. “You took out Hojo in front of them, somehow survived the trip back to Midgar, took out a couple of their goons…just to name a few. You’re pretty dangerous now; imagine after some specialized training.  
  
“And as for the last bit…” Zack trailed off. Cloud turned his head to look curiously at him. Zack’s face was closer than he thought. “I went to Seph first, you know. I loved him and Aeris both, and Aeris said if I didn’t do _something_ she was going to kick my ass.” Zack smiled at Cloud, warm and fond. “He’s still shy about it, but I think me getting tentacles too helped. I really never thought he would have the guts to make a move on you.”  
  
Cloud paled and tried to move back. Zack tightened his grip.   
  
“He’s still pretty flustered about that,” Zack continued casually, arm like a steel band behind Cloud’s back. “We talked earlier about it, though, and if you’re open to it…”  
  
Zack leaned closer. Cloud didn’t move.  
  
The kiss was as chaste as the one with Sephiroth. Cloud closed his eyes.  
  
This felt right.  
  
And Zack tasted like coffee.  
  
Something metallic clicked loudly above them. Zack froze, mouth still against Cloud’s. “Back away,” Vincent growled. “Now.”  
  
Oh, by Hel.  
  
The ripping of pants and the sight of tentacles flying didn’t surprise Cloud in the slightest. He sighed wearily as Zack pulled away.  
  
“It’s fine, Vincent,” he said. The light that shone off the weights didn’t reflect the slightest on Vincent’s gun. “Don’t shoot anyone, please.”  
  
Zack glared at Vincent, long tentacles writhing. Gun steady, Vincent stared back at him.  
  
“You’re sick and exhausted, and he was taking advantage,” Vincent said flatly.  
  
Cloud had had dreams that were less humiliating than this, even the naked ones. He spoke quickly before Zack began looking too guilty. “Did I really, really look like I was protesting?” Then a thought occurred to Cloud, and he looked sharply at Zack. “You and Sephiroth were talking about kissing me?”  
  
Zack grinned sheepishly, one eye still on Vincent’s gun. “…yes?”  
  
Cloud thought about that for a moment and then flushed with embarrassment and arousal. One thing about being sixteen: even being sick and exhausted couldn’t keep him from getting turned on after hearing _that_. “Oh,” he murmured. He cleared his throat. Would continue that train of thought when Vincent didn’t have his gun aimed at Zack’s head. “Did you find out anything, Vincent?”  
  
Shooting Zack a dark look, Vincent lowered his weapon. Zack relaxed a little, shoulders slumping, but his tentacles didn’t stop twitching. Cloud couldn’t blame him even if they were incredibly distracting.  
  
“I’m still researching,” Vincent said curtly. He didn’t look away from Zack; Zack stared suspiciously back. Cloud sighed, exhausted.  
  
“Okay. I’ll meet with you later, okay?” The gym spun a little when Cloud stood, but he didn’t let that slow him down.  
  
It was ironic how the room was less tense when it had been just Cloud and Miroslaw.  
  
Cloud bypassed the shower for now even though he could feel his sweat drying on his skin. He kept his head low as he ducked past other troopers. Before all of this, he would have been drilling with them, learning alongside them. Never before had he wished to be doing normal, everyday push-ups.  
  
The scent of the stables brought a small smile to his face. Most of the chocobos perked up their heads as he walked by, a sea of yellow with the occasional blue and green peeking at him. Cloud smiled at their chirps and kwehs. Since the stablehands tucked Vali on the far side, farthest from the inner entrance and closest to the outer exit, he had to walk past all of them.  
  
“Don’t worry, guys,” he called dryly. “I’ll be back to muck your stalls soon enough.”  
  
Kwehs answered.  
  
So did a voice. “Cloud?”  
  
Cloud started and unconsciously hurried his steps. “Sephiroth?”  
  
Looking as tired as Cloud felt, the General nonetheless smiled a little at Cloud as the blond stepped to his side. He looked as appropriate in the shadows the stable as Cloud’s warbird did: it disconcerted Cloud a little.  
  
“Hello,” Sephiroth greeted with a nod, eyes dark before he turned back to the corner of the stables. “I believe Astridr has attracted your chocobo’s attention.”  
  
Cloud followed his gaze and winced. Free from his pen -- and Cloud didn’t want to know how -- Vali had sidled up to the pen that held Sephiroth’s black hen. Astridr preened her right wing, back to Vali, but that meant little when the large black could have ripped Vali’s eyes out with her sharp beak for his presumption. As if he knew that, Vali kept up a stream of low chirping that almost sounded like a purr.  
  
Cloud disbelievingly shook his head. A comment about brash males simmered on his tongue, but he bit it back. He silently stood beside Sephiroth, letting the sounds of the chocobos fill the air.  
  
“Has Zack talked to you then?” Sephiroth inquired presently. Before them, Vali fluffed his crest. Astridr switched to her other wing.  
  
Cloud’s lips twisted in a wary smile. He hoped it had been all right to leave those two alone in the gym. “Yeah.”  
  
Sephiroth shifted beside him. Their arms brushed. “And is this arrangement…agreeable?”  
  
Slowly extending his wings, Vali looked like he was stretching. Astridr slanted a look at him. Cloud watched. “Is it okay for you?”  
  
Silence fell again. Cloud thought of them in the lab, of himself in the shower in Nibelheim, of the pair in the field. He thought of all three of them at the stream in the mountains and Zack laughing.  
  
Cloud had to bite the inside of his cheek.  
  
“…when the scientists’ location is discovered,” Sephiroth said slowly, “we should talk.”  
  
Cloud bit harder. The wary hope in Sephiroth’s voice sounded too familiar. He leaned to the side, letting his arm brush against Sephiroth’s again. He felt the tension ease from Sephiroth’s body.  
  
Together, they quietly watched Vali’s flirtations.


	13. Chapter 13

_“Mama? Hey, Mom?”  
  
Ulfhilde Strife stood in front of the sink, still humming that damned lullaby. In a moment of frustration, Cloud had once told her how much he hated that song. She had blinked at him, asked him if he was hungry, and set out three plates for dinner.  
  
It had been a harsh winter, and some of the best bits of meat still burned on the altar in the backyard. More still rotted on that third plate.  
  
“Mom!” Cloud repeated insistently, walking over to her elbow. To his relief, her wet hands paused on the plate.  
  
“Yes, dear?” she asked. Cloud had no idea if he meant him or his father.  
  
Cloud cleared his throat. He felt guilty for talking to Tifa about this before his mom, but he needed actual feedback on this insane plan. He knew he wouldn’t get it from Ulfhilde. “I’m going to Midgar, Mama.” Something flickered in her eyes. Hope rose in his chest, fluttering like a trapped bird. “I’m going to become a SOLDIER.”  
  
He waited, fists clenched at his sides. He studied her still face and restless eyes. Then Ulfhilde’s face cleared and she smiled placidly. “Have fun, dear.”  
  
Ulfhilde turned back to her plate and her damned _ humming _. Cloud’s shoulders slumped.  
  
“All right, Mama,” he murmured.  
  
Cloud hated himself a little, but the idea of fleeing soothed something inside of him. Freedom from Nibelheim, from his mother…  
  
And from that damned man who looked nothing like him, anyway._  
  
Cloud shook his head, sending the memories of Nibelheim scattering. Vincent stared at him from the other end of Cloud’s bed.  
  
Really, Cloud needed to get some chairs and a table in here.  
  
When Cloud said nothing, just put the file to one side, Vincent simply handed Cloud another file. “All of those associated with the Jenova and Chaos projects vanished as soon as their part was completed. Most vanished immediately. Others, especially those associated with outside projects, vanished within five years.”  
  
Cloud couldn’t help fingering the file again. “Why did my mom live then?” His hand clenched into a fist. “Or was she just that unimportant?”  
  
Did Hojo have something to do with her delusions? Or did she need no help going down that road?  
  
“They were chosen for their discretion,” Vincent said. Cloud looked up at him. Head bowed and long black hair hanging in his face, the other man flipped through another file. “He was apparently very…discreet.”  
  
Cloud grunted and looked back at the folder. “Do you think that’s why I was chosen for the mission? He found out?”  
  
No answer. Cloud sighed and reached for another file.  
  
Nibelheim’s countdown had begun years ago. Cloud saw that now. At least Hojo was in Hel’s embrace, too. He hoped he was Fenrir’s chew toy.  
  
He sighed again and looked up at Vincent. “Do you want to come with me to give this to Sephiroth and Zack?” he asked. Cloud knew the answer before Vincent shook his head. Nodding, Cloud began gathering the folders. He piled them carefully into a black bag.  
  
Cloud couldn’t resist tapping one of the folders before he put it in the bag, though. “I would have given anything to know him, if only for a moment.” He scooped that one up, too, and added, “Just think about it.”  
  
It was the second time Cloud walked away from Vincent in twenty-four hours. He thought he was getting better at it.  
  
Troopers rushed around him as he carried the folders to Sephiroth’s office. Cloud kept his head low and avoided looking at any of them. Just watching them run made him tired.  
  
A surprisingly short but sturdy SOLDIER stood guard outside Sephiroth’s office. He stood up straighter when Cloud approached. It took Cloud a moment to remember his name.  
  
“Hi, Terry,” he greeted, rebalancing the bag in his arms. Maybe he should have used a book bag. “Are they having a meeting?”  
  
Terry smiled at him, his white teeth as bright at his eyes. It hurt Cloud’s eyes a little. “Yeah. Go on in.”  
  
Cloud smiled back and Terry cracked the door open for him. Cloud caught sight of a flurry of color before he stepped in, Terry closing the door behind him. Cloud immediately realized why Terry stood guard.  
  
All of the SOLDIERs from the original strike on the lab stood around Sephiroth’s desk in various stages of undress. Cloud had to step over squirming tentacles and duck under wings before he could reach Zack’s side. Zack’s own tentacles and wing were dancing restlessly, Zack grinned at Cloud and handed him a cup of coffee. Cloud set the bag down and gratefully accepted it.  
  
“It should be tea,” Sephiroth said disapprovingly. Of them all, only his appendages remained still.  
  
Cloud couldn’t answer, too busy drinking his coffee. His free hand slapped Zack’s tentacle where it began curling around his thigh. With a pout, Zack withdrew it.  
  
“Bringing us some trash, Cloud?” Xan asked. Cloud quickly moved closer to Zack to dodge Xan’s flying tentacles. He cringed at the sight of coffee in Xan’s hand. Another SOLDIER already had a death grip on Xan’s pale grey wing.  
  
Beside Cloud, Sephiroth had already pulled out the files and was flipping through them. “They’re of all the people who disappeared who were related to Hojo’s projects,” Cloud explained.  
  
Sephiroth’s tentacles twitched a little at certain files, pausing over them before reaching for the next. Cloud wondered if they were SOLDIERs he knew or faces he remembered from Nibelheim. He didn’t ask.  
  
Lips tight, Sephiroth gathered them back up and put them back in the black bag. “We will review them in the field. If you possess any external input on these files, have them prepared by 2200 and meet us in the stables. Only bring clothes, weapons, and basic gear. Be prepared to stay several days.”  
  
Cloud paused, coffee cup pressed against his lower lip. He slowly lowered it again. He glanced at Zack, only to catch a flash of his clenched jaw before Zack looked away. A cool tentacle wrapped tightly around his ankle.  
  
He suddenly had a bad feeling about this.  
  
“Yes, Sir,” he said cautiously, and he saw Sephiroth’s hands clench around the bag. He didn’t think, just lightly touched Sephiroth’s hands before picking up the bag. It felt heavier than before.  
  
Questions lingered on the tip of his tongue, but Sephiroth’s dark eyes quieted him. He’d interrogate Zack later if need be.  
  
Then something Sephiroth said struck him, and Cloud brightened. “Stables? So Vali is coming?”  
  
Zack’s groan almost drowned out Sephiroth’s affirmative response.  
  
xoxoxox  
  
Long before 2200, Cloud and his gear rested in Vali’s stall. Vali stood perfectly still as Cloud groomed him, not even glancing at Astridr. Instead of seeming upset, Astridr’s attention focused solely on the far doors. She knew what was coming.  
  
Vali only moved once when Cloud checked his claws, and that was to try grooming Cloud’s hair. “Knock it off,” Cloud grumbled, shoving the large head away. He glanced quickly toward the entrance to make sure no one had seen it, but he didn’t see anyone. Of course, if anyone was pulling their stalker act…  
  
Huh. That was actually frighteningly similar to what his mother had warned him about, except it had been gods, not Turks/ex-Turks/SOLDIERs.  
  
Cloud looked over the darkened stables, studied the shadows and the dozing chocobos, and then slowly turned to Vali’s other claw. Vali helpfully tried to groom his hair again.  
  
It was only after Cloud had slipped a saddle onto Vali and loaded the saddlebags -- complete with apologies -- that he paused and rested his head against Vali’s neck. “It feels like they’re never going to talk to me,” he said wistfully. “About anything.”  
  
Vali kweh’d quietly and nuzzled the side of Cloud’s head. Cloud pet Vali’s neck.  
  
The SOLDIERs found them like that. No one commented or even greeted him. The move out was silent, Sephiroth nodding solemnly at Cloud as he prepared Astridr, Zack waiting quietly on his own black chocobo. Of all the SOLDIERs, only their chocobos were black. The only interaction that passed between the group were quick nods, and Cloud’s hands tightly clenched in Vali’s feathers as he rode alongside Zack and Sephiroth.  
  
Only the sound of the wind accompanied them as they rode from Midgar. Cloud listened for the howl of the wolves, but all he heard was the wind. It reminded him of a hissing serpent.  
  
The ground stretched brown and dead in all directions when Sephiroth signaled for them to stop. Cloud couldn’t help but watch the SOLDIERs as they set up tents. They reminded him more of prey than predators, and he wondered what he was missing.  
  
“Cloud!” Zack called, waving at him. A large tent had already been set up while Cloud was studying the others, and he flushed. Zack didn’t seem to notice either Cloud’s embarrassment or the fact that Zack was the loudest thing since leaving the stables. “Come here!”  
  
Vali snorted and Cloud absentmindedly petted his neck as he led him around the SOLDIERs to Zack’s side. The speed and efficiency with which the SOLDIERs set up camp dazed him. It belatedly occurred to him that he was the only non-SOLDIER on this mission.   
  
Déjà vu.  
  
Sephiroth greeted Cloud with a small smile from the other side of the tent before turning back to Astridr. Vali straightened and fluffed his crest. Zack’s bright smile grew strained. Cloud kept a hand on Vali’s neck, just in case.  
  
“So!” Zack said cheerfully, apparently ignoring Vali. “Want to stay in the tent with us? For old time’s sake?”  
  
Heat rose in Cloud’s belly. He ignored it. “I don’t think we ever stayed in a tent,” he pointed out.  
  
Sephiroth looked up from where he was grooming the feathers under Astridr’s saddle. He smiled briefly at Cloud. The heat in Cloud’s stomach grew. “I think we stayed everywhere but,” Sephiroth agreed.  
  
Zack glanced between the two, his own smile growing warmer. “Well, we’ll just tick ‘staying in a tent’ off the list then.”  
  
Vali kweh’d, giving his opinion of it. Cloud bit his tongue to keep from laughing when Zack jumped.  
  
“Okay,” Cloud agreed, ignoring the heat in his cheeks at Zack’s brilliant smile. “Just don’t tie Vali to the tent, okay?”  
  
Zack sputtered while the surrounding SOLDIERs laughed. Cloud ducked his head and smiled.  
  
Vali stood proudly at the tent’s entrance, not needing tied down. It took Zack fifteen minutes to get into the tent, but at least Cloud had plenty of time to safely situate his things. When Zack finally entered the tent, red-faced and grumbling, Vali, Astridr, and Zack’s chocobo, Firebrand, had their heads close together like they were chatting, completely oblivious to the disgruntled human.  
  
Sephiroth already rested in the tent, having passed Vali with no more than a scratch on the chocobo’s neck. Instead of the cot Cloud had expected, he rested on the ground beside Cloud, little more than a large sleeping bag separating them from the dead ground. “Is this all right, Cloud?” Sephiroth inquired, unperturbed by Zack’s grumbling on his other side.  
  
Cloud smiled at him, trying not to shiver when the tip of a tentacle brushed his ankle. “Yeah.” Feathers flourished around him, and this time, he did shiver when Sephiroth’s wing wrapped behind his back. “I need to look at those files, though.”  
  
He glanced at the large black bag, pointedly resting on the table instead of the ground. Before his eyes, the bag blurred. Sephiroth’s wing seemed warmer than expected.  
  
“Later, Spike.” Now the tentacle wrapped around his ankle, squeezing comfortably. “Sleep.”  
  
Cloud slept.  
  
xoxoxox  
  
Sephiroth was gone when Cloud awoke, shadows hiding the cooling spot where he laid. Zack curled around him, his tentacles entwined with Cloud’s legs. It took Cloud a moment to realize he was using Zack’s wing as a pillow.  
  
Zack grumbled when Cloud pushed himself into a sitting position but otherwise barely stirred. Cloud listened hard for anything outside the tent but only heard faint, distant howls. The wolves, he guessed. Slightly perturbed, Cloud looked around the tent, using the faint light seeping through the tent’s thin walls.  
  
Their sleeping bags took up a majority of the space -- looking almost like a king-sized bed -- but small tables stood along the edges of the tent. He saw new papers scattered on one of them, but there was no sign of Sephiroth.  
  
Zack grumbled more when Cloud slipped away from him. He quickly slipped on his boots and jacket and armed himself before stepping out of the tent.  
  
Vali greeted him with a nuzzle along his cheek and neck, eyes bright in the low light. Cloud smiled at him and stroked his neck. As he did so, he realized the soft light wasn’t dawn like he expected but instead Fire-heated stones.  
  
He felt Sephiroth before he heard him. “They provide light while frightening away natural predators.”  
  
The SOLDIER’s wing and tentacles were gone; Cloud found himself disappointed. “And unnatural ones?” he inquired, looking up at Sephiroth.  
  
“That’s what we’re here to hunt.” Astridr stood at Sephiroth’s shoulder, saddled and ready. She looked every inch the proper warbird.  
  
Cloud glanced beside him, not surprised to see Vali looking the same, even without the saddle. “But that’s not the only reason we’re out here, is it?”  
  
Sephiroth looked apologetic but didn’t answer. Cloud looked beyond him to see the other SOLDIERS packing their things, all of them shadows in the dark. No laughs and jokes filled the air like they had filled Sephiroth’s office last night.  
  
“Today,” Sephiroth said quietly, “we hunt wolves. Tonight, we’ll talk.”  
  
Cloud was beginning to hate phrases like that. Still, he nodded.   
  
He trusted Sephiroth.  
  
Sephiroth looked into their tent. Then he looked at Cloud with a small smile. “Do you mind if I borrow Vali for a moment?”  
  
Cloud caught on instantly. He grinned. “Of course.”  
  
One minute later, Zack’s screams broke the silence. “Get him off get him off _claws aren’t supposed to go there!_ “  
  
xoxoxox  
  
It was better to be under Hel in life than in death, Ulfhilde had told Cloud, even as she taught him to skin a rabbit. In death, you would go to Paradise marked as Hel’s, marked as one fierce and hard and not one with whom the gods would trifle.  
  
Only those who failed Hel in life would be under her in death, unworthy of Paradise. An eternity of desolation awaited them, nothingness to match their worthless lives.  
  
Cloud didn’t really understand what Ulfhilde meant until he traveled the plains of Midgar.  
  
Riding alongside Sephiroth with Zack on his opposite side and the other SOLDIERs behind him, Cloud looked for glowing eyes amongst the sea of death. Dust flew around them as the chocobos’ claws hit the dead ground. Cloud kept his chin high in hopes of avoiding the worst of it.  
  
Abruptly, Cloud found himself slowing to a halt beside Sephiroth. It took him a moment for his mind to catch up to the minute gesture Sephiroth had made.  
  
“It’s too quiet,” Zack said, twisting on his saddle. Firebrand remained deathly still under him. “Our reports had dozens out here. Where are they?”  
  
No answer. Eyes that could see for miles looked around them.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Cloud could feel Vali’s muscles rippling against his legs. He absently pet Vali’s neck. “Maybe they knew we were coming,” he said softly.  
  
It sounded ridiculous even to his ears, but no one laughed.  
  
Sephiroth looked around, eyes sharp and glittering. “If they’re expecting us,” he murmured, “then we can expect a trap.”  
  
Cloud’s mind flashed back to their last encounter with the wolves. He swallowed and continued petting Vali. His weak eyes scanned the horizon. Then he looked at the dirt.  
  
“Are they smart enough to go to ground?” he asked.  
  
Beside him, Zack nodded, brilliant eyes downward. “Yeah. And our dust trail could easily camouflage them.”  
  
“They could also be waiting for nightfall,” Sephiroth said quietly. “Tracking us and waiting for us to drop our guards.”  
  
Cloud swallowed and looked around again. Even knowing the SOLDIERs had a far greater chance of actually seeing something, he still felt compelled to look.  
  
“I didn’t think wolves were native to this area,” he commented.  
  
“They’re not,” Sephiroth confirmed. The odd note in his voice drew Cloud’s eyes to him, but Sephiroth didn’t look back. “Move slowly. Keep eyes on the ground and horizon.”  
  
No one commented. Without another word, Sephiroth urged Astridr forward.  
  
xoxoxox  
  
Night fell with no sight of the wolves. “Not even tracks,” Terry noted as Zack helped him with the perimeter. The SOLDIERs set up tents while Cloud helped check on the chocobos.   
  
“They set up a trap before,” Xan commented, checking on his own chocobo’s talons. “And they only set it up for three people. If there are dozens like the reports are claiming, who knows what trap they’re setting up for this many people.”  
  
Vali ran his beak along Cloud’s scalp. Cloud absently pushed him aside before he could begin grooming Cloud’s hair.  
  
“Does anyone know how the wolves got here?” Cloud asked.  
  
Xan stood and shrugged. His chocobo nudged his shoulder with his beak, and Xan obligingly scratched the base of his skull. “I think the General has a theory. He probably does. He’s the General, after all.”  
  
Cloud nodded, thoughts whirring in his head. He didn’t say anything, though.  
  
He jumped when a hand settled on his shoulder. He whirled to see Zack smiling gently at him. His small smile didn’t match the intensity in his violet eyes.  
  
“Our tent is set up,” Zack said. “You and me are with the last watch. Now’s a good time to look over those files if you want.”  
  
Vali’s feathers slowly bristled under Cloud’s hand. Zack didn’t look away from Cloud, but he slowly backed away, nonetheless. “I’ll see you in the tent.”  
  
There was something like a promise in Zack’s words. Cloud just didn’t know what the promise was.  
  
Their tent was situated as before, with sleeping bags covering the majority of the ground and foldable tables lining the side. Cloud carried the files from Vali’s saddlebags to the table closest to the entrance. Sephiroth stood beside it, some of his own papers on another table. Cloud felt his eyes on him even as he pulled the files out, Sephiroth’s gaze like feathers against his skin.  
  
“We can review the files tomorrow night if need be,” Sephiroth said quietly. “If you are still feeling ill, you need rest.”  
  
Cloud’s hands paused for a moment before he resumed setting them on the table. Actually, he had completely forgot about feeling ill. Since Sephiroth hadn’t… “Why did you want me in this mission if you thought I was still sick?” he asked. He faltered on one folder before putting it down with the rest.  
  
Sephiroth’s hands settled over his, stalling him. Cloud looked up and stared into solemn green eyes. “Midgar isn’t a safe place for you right now.”  
  
Cloud blinked at him. He thought of the terror of Nibelheim, of the nightmare of the plane ride, and the thrill of hunting and be hunted by the wolves. “Midgar isn’t safe?” he repeated blankly.  
  
As if knowing what Cloud was thinking, Sephiroth twisted his lips into a small, half-smile. Then it faded again. “There are hidden dangers in Midgar.”  
  
Cloud waited for Sephiroth to finish the thought. When he didn’t, Cloud prodded, “Such as?”  
  
Sephiroth stared silently at him. Then he huffed something suspiciously close to a laugh. Cloud resisted the urge to check his forehead for a fever.  
  
“What Seph’s trying to say, Cloud,” Zack said, slipping into the tent behind Cloud, “is that you’re not used to Midgar’s espionage. You attracted a lot of attention in ShinRa. We just want to keep you out of their sight for a little bit. Out of sight, out of mind, right?”  
  
Cloud clenched his jaw and stared at the table. Hojo’s blood staining Nibel soil and Reno leaning by his door flashed through his mind. He scowled. “It makes sense,” he said reluctantly.  
  
It didn’t mean he had to like it, though.  
  
Something cool wrapped around his ankle and squeezed lightly. Cloud smiled at Zack, recognizing his tentacle. “You forgot to take off your pants again, didn’t you?”  
  
The tentacle paused. Sephiroth sighed.  
  
“What about when we go back?” Cloud asked. “Am I still going to be under watch?”  
  
The tentacle tightened, and Zack leaned against his side. Sephiroth brushed his wrist. “This mission also enables you to work with the other SOLDIERs,” Sephiroth explained. “A mission with SOLDIERs will help you gain SOLDIER status quicker, and you will be associated with more people known through the higher ranks.”  
  
Which would supposedly make it harder for Cloud to vanish. Cloud frowned, resting a hand on the files. It didn’t save any of them.  
  
It didn’t save Vincent, for that matter.  
  
Cloud didn’t say any of that, though. “All of these people were related to either the Jenova project or Chaos,” he said, patting the files. “All of them vanished within five years of their part in the projects.”  
  
Both Zack and Sephiroth grabbed several files and began to skim through them. After a moment, Cloud joined them.  
  
The people in the files varied, with scientists topping the list of deceased and troopers coming in second, with the occasional SOLDIER and Turk tossed in. Zack pulled out one of the files and shook his head.   
  
“I thought he died in Wutai,” he commented, staring wistfully at the file.  
  
Cloud glanced at the familiar picture. “That’s what a friend of his told Mom and me, too,” he agreed. His mother was never the same after that. If it wasn’t for finding the letter himself, Cloud would never have known anything at all.  
  
Feeling eyes on him, Cloud looked up to see Zack staring at him. He glanced over to see Sephiroth doing the same. “What?”  
  
Zack blinked at him and then tapped the folder. “Why would you and your mom be told anything about a SOLDIER?”  
  
Sometimes, Cloud wondered how Zack reached his rank. That one incident in the cafeteria with the jello and the lights was one of those times. This was another. “He’s my dad,” Cloud explained slowly. He pointed in the file where it said he had been stationed in Nibelheim, his finger lingering on the timeline. “Didn’t I tell you my dad was a SOLDIER?”  
  
For a handful of seconds, the only noise was the muffled sound of other tents being set up. Half of the SOLDIERs were keeping watch for the wolves, leading to less than usual aiding with the set-up. Hopefully Vali was aiding in the watch rather than waiting for an unsuspecting Zack to leave the tent. Already slowed down, no one would want to have to set up a tent for the second time.  
  
Sephiroth’s hand joined Zack’s on the folder, but he remained silent, sharp eyes on Cloud. Frowning, Zack said carefully, “I thought you meant a trooper. Cloud, SOLDIERs can’t reproduce. The Mako affects our sperm too much. We’re sterile.”  
  
Cloud’s eyes narrowed, but Sephiroth didn’t give him a chance to speak. “Or so Hojo told us,” he pointed out. “Zack, look at his eyes.”  
  
Cloud’s hand immediately flew to his face. “What?”  
  
Zack and Sephiroth didn’t answer. Zack’s frown deepened. “Nibelheim is unusually Mako-rich --”  
  
“Cloud was the only one in the village with eyes like that,” Sephiroth interrupted. “We’ve seen Cloud perform. He successfully killed Nibel wolves by himself. He dragged us both up the mountain, even with the added weight of the tentacles. He rarely falls ill, and despite his lack of self-care, he always quickly recovers. And our only source of the infertility of SOLDIERs is Hojo.”  
  
Most of Sephiroth’s words flew over Cloud’s head. The blond dug through his pack beside the table and pulled out his wallet. It contained a sad amount of gil, but it carried something far more important. Triumphant, Cloud pulled it out. “See?”  
  
Zack accepted the photo with shaking fingers. Unlike the picture in his file, Gunnar Leikny smiled widely, eyes sparkling as he wrapped a large arm over Ulfhilde Strife’s slender shoulders. His was as wild as Ulfhilde’s, dooming Cloud from the start. He towered over her small frame, and Cloud fondly remembered his mother’s stories of how often the SOLDIER hit his head walking in their front door. Her family had never been tall, so they had no need for high ceilings.  
  
“That was taken before he went to Wutai,” Cloud said wistfully. “He never knew Mom was pregnant. She was going to surprise him when he came back.”  
  
Lost in memories, it took him a moment to realize Zack was shaking. He frowned and touched Zack’s arm. Zack’s tentacle tightened almost painfully on Cloud’s leg.  
  
“Aeris and I never used protection,” Zack murmured. “We didn’t think…I mean, we had never heard…”  
  
A chocobo shrieked outside. “Wolves!” Xan howled.


	14. Chapter 14

Chaos awaited outside the tent  
  
Zack led the charge, Buster sword shining and tentacles snapping like whips. Cloud felt Sephiroth’s warmth at his back as he ran after Zack. When a stray tentacle almost knocked him backward, Sephiroth caught him. A moment later, Vali pressed against his right side.  
  
Wolves darted between vibrant wings and striking tentacles, black blurs and glowing eyes. The SOLDIERs’ chocobos joined the fray, tossing a blaze of yellow in the flurry of color. Even with his sword in hand and Vali at his side, Cloud felt overwhelmed.  
  
“Don’t think,” Sephiroth breathed beside him. Something thumped in the dirt, and Cloud only realized Sephiroth had killed a wolf when he pulled Masamune back. “Don’t hesitate.”  
  
Cloud inhaled sharply and held his sword in front of him. Everything was a blur of motion and glowing eyes. There were dozens of wolves for a dozen SOLDIERs and a dozen chocobos. Snarls and squawks and curses and commands filled the air.  
  
“Don’t think.” Cloud gasped when a tentacle pushed against his back.  
  
Something flashed out of the corner of Cloud’s eye, and he reflexively swung his blade. The metal dug into flesh and struck bone. Cloud yanked his sword back, the wolf’s yelp still ringing in his ears.  
  
Everything swirled away after that. Vali stood at his side, all sharp beak and kicking talons. Sephiroth stayed at his back, silent and seemingly motionless but never still.  
  
Cloud couldn’t find Zack. The dark-haired SOLDIER had vanished into the battle, and Cloud desperately wished he could at least see him. Snapping jaws kept him from moving to look, wolves large enough to carry Cloud with ease dodging in and out around him.  
  
“—circling the camp―”  
  
“More on the out―”  
  
“—for the tents!”  
  
Cloud heard a crackle and saw a flash of light. A wolf howled and the wolf snapping at Vali’s side vanished. Sephiroth grunted beside him, and Cloud quickly looked to see if he was all right. The light from the stones shone on Sephiroth’s strangely pensive face.  
  
“They recognize materia!” Sephiroth shouted. A chill raced up Cloud’s spine, but he didn’t know why. He lunged after the wolf that had been attacking Vali, instead. It didn’t look at him, fleeing to the field. Electricity sizzled beside Cloud, and the wolf’s body flew through the air before slamming into the dirt.  
  
Still, the other wolves fled, vanishing into the dark with a speed that rivaled the SOLDIERs’. Two SOLDIERs started running after them, but Sephiroth shouted, “Regroup!”  
  
Sweat drenched Cloud’s clothes. He panted, abruptly aware of his arms shaking. The stones around them cooled to a soft red, the light dying. Cloud wondered how much time had passed since Xan’s original shout.  
  
A warm hand settled on Cloud’s shoulder, and he startled. He looked up to meet Sephiroth’s eyes. Cloud forced a smile. Sephiroth squeezed his shoulder and walked over to the wolf he had killed.  
  
The other SOLDIERs circled the corpse, glowing eyes grim. Blood drenched Zack, and Cloud looked him over as he joined him, making sure at least most of it wasn’t his. Zack smiled at him, but in the dying light, it seemed twisted and thin. Together, they joined the SOLDIERs.  
  
They stood in the dying light of the stones, eyes burning bright in the shadow. Blood dripped in steady droplets to the thirsty ground.  
  
Later, when Cloud thought of that night, that was always the image that came to mind.  
  
The SOLDIERs cleaned the camp quickly and quietly after that. Cloud wanted to help but tended Vali, instead. He thought the chocobo appreciated the effort. He was too tired to tell.  
  
No one slept that night.  
  
Dawn found a far cleaner camp. Zack sat beside Cloud and watched the sun rise. At least, they watched the sun’s rays shine on Sephiroth’s long hair as the man watched over the camp.  
  
“Ever think you’d be here, Cloud?” Zack asked. Most of the SOLDIERs were relaxing around them, saving their strength. There was a decision to be made, but not yet.  
  
“No,” Cloud answered truthfully.  
  
Zack laughed and nudged Cloud’s shoulder. Bloodstained cloth rubbed against bloodstained cloth. No one had changed. “No. Guess you wouldn’t have.” His glowing violet eyes never strayed from Sephiroth. If the Silver General was tired, it didn’t show. Even at a distance, his gaze seemed sharp enough to cut through stone. Cloud had no idea what he was thinking. “I knew we would have adventures, though. Knew it from the first second we met.”  
  
Cloud couldn’t help but smile a little. “Based on my accent?”  
  
“Based on your fearlessness,” Zack corrected. “Never would have noticed you in the first place if it wasn’t for that.”  
  
Cloud chuckled. “I wasn’t fearless.”  
  
“You were the only trooper shooting at the nasties rather than waiting for a SOLDIER to save your ass. Then I talked to you and noticed your accent.”  
  
Cloud shook his head, still smiling a little. “Is this your roundabout way of saying you stepped in poison ivy again?”  
  
“Hey!”  
  
They quieted when Sephiroth finally decided everything was all right and started toward them. Cloud automatically sat up straighter. Zack didn’t bother; his smile grew, though.  
  
“We’ll move soon,” Sephiroth greeted, “after everyone has rested.” The pensive look from before had returned, and his eyes drifted toward Midgar as he spoke.  
  
“You think you know what’s going on,” Zack said, and Cloud shot a startled look at him. Zack kept smiling.  
  
Sephiroth settled on Zack’s other side with his usual grace. “These creatures are unnaturally enhanced,” he said. “They recognize materia. Of all places to gather, they stay around Midgar, where food and cover are both scarce.” His head fell back, and Sephiroth gazed sightlessly upward. “We’re missing scientists.”  
  
Zack cursed. Cloud struggled to follow along. “The scientists vanished at the same time as Hojo died,” he pointed out.  
  
Sephiroth nodded, mouth tight. “I know.”  
  
It itched at the back of Cloud’s mind. He had a bad feeling he knew where this was going. “Did they know anything about Hojo dying?” he asked slowly.  
  
Sephiroth didn’t look at him. “Rumors travel fast, especially amongst groups. However, the only witnesses to Hojo’s killer remained the Turks, and they wouldn’t let it be known that a trooper had been the one to kill ShinRa’s main scientist.”  
  
Zack continued the train of thought, “So they only knew that Hojo had been killed. Who knows what actual stories they had been told.”  
  
“Around the same time,” Sephiroth said quietly, “unnatural creatures appeared in the desert surrounding Midgar, familiar with humans and human weapons, such as materia.”  
  
Cloud closed his eyes, sickness building in his gut. “Oh.”   
  
Around them, SOLDIERs fell into repose. Some practiced, some watched the sky, and others stared at the horizon.  
  
No one slept.  
  
Cloud expected them to return to Midgar, but after camp had been packed, everyone rode their chocobos west, further away from the city. Cloud knew more than the wolves was at play, but he had no idea what. Did it involve the Turks? President ShinRa? Whatever it was, it was enough to encourage Sephiroth to gather all those involved with the lab and move them away from ShinRa. They weren’t running away. If they were, they would be long gone. Regrouping? Waiting? Cloud looked for clues in the glowing eyes around him but saw nothing.  
  
The day passed peacefully, Vali running smooth and comfortable under him, the SOLDIERs a now familiar mass of energy around him. Cloud had never expected to be with SOLDIERs beyond being a faceless trooper, and the comfort of the long ride surprised him.   
  
Everything clicked.  
  
For one of the first times in Cloud’s life, he thought he could really take whatever came next.  
  
xoxoxoxo  
  
Cloud’s level of comfort remained gracefully steady until they set up their tents that night. When he finally slipped into the tent, Vali a silent sentinel outside, Zack already sat on his sleeping bag. The look on his face killed Cloud’s ease like a bolt spell.  
  
“Zack?” he asked, sitting beside him.  
  
Xan poked his head in the tent. A long scratch decorated his cheek, and Cloud wondered when he had gained that. It didn’t look like something he might have acquired against the wolves. “Hey, Cloud, after this we’re –” He caught sight of Zack’s face and coughed. “Never mind. I’ll tell you later.” His head vanished again, and Vali squawked. Cloud realized where Xan had acquired the scratch.  
  
Zack laughed and shook his head. His lips twisted in something resembling a smile as he looked back at Cloud. “He escapes Vali with just a scratch,” he said. “I almost get eaten.”  
  
Cloud rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. Instead, he settled back on his hands and surreptitiously studied Zack. A smile still played on Zack’s lips, but the low lamplight seemed to intensify the small lines around his eyes, his odd smile only helping highlight the lines. For the first time, Zack seemed…old.  
  
Zack had cleaned up from the earlier battle, a new, clean uniform instead of the bloodied one. It occurred to Cloud that none of the SOLDIERs had changed until after they made camp. Bait, he guessed. In the mountains or in the desert, some things didn’t change.  
  
Still, Cloud bet that Zack wasn’t thinking of the wolves right then. “Do you think Aeris could be pregnant?”   
  
Zack laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Honestly?” Cloud nodded. “Not really. We only had one chance after we got back to Midgar. I didn’t even think about protection, but Aeris was always more clever than me. She’d probably smack me on the head for asking.” Zack shifted so he faced Cloud, his smile oddly wistful. “When we go back to Midgar, I’m taking you and Seph both to her church. Maybe we’ll have a picnic. Just us.”  
  
Zack’s fingers danced, twisting odd marks into the ground. Cloud reached out and touched his hand, stilling him. “Hey…” Zack’s fingers felt chilled under his own.  
  
“The SOLDIER program is probably going to be bumped back a little,” Zack continued, staring past Cloud, “but if the Prez has his way, it won’t be for long. Stick close to us, okay, and keep your wits about you.”  
  
Yet another damned conversation going over Cloud’s head, and he was the only other person there. He scowled. “Zack –”  
  
“This shitstorm, it’s just starting, Cloud,” Zack interrupted. He waved his free hand around them. “All of this? Just a side-effect. We ain’t seen nothing yet.”  
  
Instead of sounding revitalized by the challenge, he just sounded _sad_ , which baffled Cloud on almost every level. He shifted so he squeezed Zack’s hand instead of just touching it. “But we’ll be together for it.”  
  
In a world of uncertainties, that didn’t make the list. Once upon a time, it topped the damned list. Cloud didn’t know when it had fallen away.  
  
Zack’s grin looked like it had surprised him. “Yeah,” he agreed. His grin widened with a flash of white teeth. “Until the end.”  
  
Cloud wished he had some clue what had upset Zack so much. He squeezed Zack’s hand again, and Zack squeezed back.  
  
Sephiroth found them like that. He paused in front of the tent flap, one hand extended against the flap like he had forgotten he was holding it up. He looked them both over like them being in their own tent had surprised him. Cloud guessed it was a good surprise judging by the sudden, small smile on his face. Zack grinned at him, his strange darkness fading like Sephiroth was a pleasant surprise for him, too.   
  
“Yeah, Vali lets you by with no problem,” he quipped.  
  
Sephiroth shook his head and sat beside Cloud. Cloud just shrugged. Vali had always been nice to him.  
  
“What do you know about your father, Cloud?” Sephiroth inquired. Cloud nodded once to himself. For once, he had been expecting the question. The straightforwardness of Sephiroth also refreshed him. He was beginning to wonder if Zack had ever been straightforward with him at all.  
  
“Not much,” he admitted. “He and Mom met while they were originally setting up the Nibel labs, I think. Mom…Mom was the last of the original tribes of Mount Nibel –”  
  
“Original tribes?” Zack interrupted. Cloud nodded, but Sephiroth was the one who answered.  
  
“Warlike tribes had lived in several mountainous regions while ShinRa initially grew in power,” he explained, his tone strangely lecturing. “In-fighting killed most of them, but enough survived to challenge ShinRa’s earliest troops. Allegedly they were partly the inspiration for SOLDIER. They say it was a massacre, with many troopers never being found. ShinRa blamed not colonizing certain areas on low Mako levels, but in many cases it was the tribes proving to be too dangerous. By the time ShinRa explored the area of Nibelheim, most of the Nibel tribes were already dead or had moved on. ShinRa offered generous stipends in the beginning to convince people to move to Nibelheim, though the reasoning behind it seemed…unbelievable.” Sephiroth nodded to Cloud. “Apparently, at least one of the old tribes had survived.”  
  
Cloud hummed in agreement. “Yeah. Mom. Pretty much all of our stories were oral, and Mom loved sharing them with Dad. I think the scientists were like everyone else in town and just dismissed Mom as the local loon, but Dad didn’t.” He smiled wistfully, picturing Ulfhilde and Gunther in his mind. “I think it was because he was from one of the Northern tribes, but don’t hold me to that.”  
  
“I think you’re right,” Sephiroth agreed. “I didn’t know him well, but it fits what I know. Several of the older SOLDIERs knew him better. I would…like to see their reactions when they are told he had a child.” He stared out the tentflap. Cloud wondered what he was thinking and if any of those older SOLDIERs were outside now. “He fought in Wutai. When I returned to Midgar, I only knew that he hadn’t been among those who returned. I…hadn’t questioned it at the time.”  
  
Cloud looked up at the regret so clear in Sephiroth’s voice. Zack bumped Cloud’s shoulder hard so Cloud ended up jostling Sephiroth. Sephiroth looked at them both and smiled, just a curve of his mouth. Cloud immediately forgave Zack for the new bruises.   
  
“The cover-up hasn’t ended,” he said, “and now we’re even more a part of it than ever.”  
  
Nibelheim, ShinRa, Jenova. The realization that his little backwards town, the one that he had fought so hard to escape, was so damned important boggled Cloud’s mind. He dropped back onto the mess of sleeping bags and stared at the tent’s shadowy ceiling.  
  
He thought of the picture of his parents, smiling and happy, and wondered if they knew. He thought of Vincent, someone else caught in this Hel-damned mess, and wondered who else had been involved.  
  
And who else had been forgotten, their skeletons lost and souls trapped in Hel’s cold hands?  
  
Zack lay beside Cloud, eyes focused on the dark ceiling, too. Sephiroth sat and watched them silently, eyes glowing softly in the shadows. Cloud couldn’t see his mouth anymore.  
  
“It’s said that all the tribes used to live in the north,” Cloud said abruptly, Ulfhilde’s voice clear in his mind. “A great battle occurred, and the gods and goddesses drifted away, taking their tribes with them. Hel settled in the dark of the Nibel mountains, and the settlers ShinRa gathered from the East called the mountains Death. They were shushed quickly, but Hel’s children, the wolves, always howled in reminder…”  
  
Cloud drifted off while explaining the importance of the wolves. The memory of Sephiroth’s smile followed him into the dark.  
  
xoxoxoxox  
  
For two more days, Cloud rode with the SOLDIERs seeking the wolves and sleeping in the tent. One night, Zack whispered that the wolves were smart enough to hide now that they knew more about the SOLDIERs. Cloud agreed, which made him wonder why they remained on this fruitless hunt.  
  
Why was Sephiroth trying to keep them out of Midgar?  
  
On the final morning, Sephiroth led the way back to ShinRa. Cloud tried not to pay attention to how all the signs of life faded in the poor soil the closer they moved to the city.  
  
Vali only nipped Zack once before settling into his pen. Cloud bet the next time he visited the chocobo, Vali would be back beside Sephiroth’s chocobo, cooing and ruffling his feathers.  
  
Zack walked Cloud back to his room, giving Cloud time to study his friend. He smiled at Cloud, but Cloud never smiled back. Cloud knew those smiles, the plastic ones tossed out every time the president insisted on holding another party. To please the masses, he claimed. The masses rarely seemed pleased.  
  
The things Cloud realized in hindsight.  
  
Zack’s hand flitted from Cloud’s elbow to the small of his back as they walked. Cloud remembered walking Tifa to her home on dark nights when the wolves were more active than usual and many of the adults had insisted _someone_ walk her home. Both Cloud and Tifa had been exasperated, though Tifa had also seemed…oddly pleased by it. Then and now, Cloud was just exasperated.  
  
“Stay here until I come get you, okay, Cloud?” Zack said, still smiling. He waved at a passing SOLDIER. Cloud just stared at him. “Don’t move.”  
  
…Really?  
  
“Really?” Zack nodded. “Are you ever going to tell me what’s going on?” Cloud carefully didn’t raise his voice. Neither did he raise his fist, which was his preferred action. Still, he couldn’t manage the plastic smile decorating Zack’s face now.  
  
Zack flinched for the briefest moment, his plastic smile twisting, becoming something real. Then the bright smile was back. “We’ll talk later, Cloud,” he said. “I need to meet Seph now, but for now, just stay here.”  
  
Cloud nodded at the door, unable to look at that damned smile anymore. He clenched his fists and held them deliberately at his sides. Zack touched his elbow again, but Cloud shook him off. “I’ll see you later, Zack.”  
  
He waited until Zack was gone to unlock his door and walk in. For some reason, the sight that greeted him didn’t surprise him. Cloud was beginning to miss real surprises.  
  
Actually, no, he wasn’t.  
  
“Really?” Cloud asked with a sigh, walking to his bed. He dropped off his duffle and put his sword beside his nightstand. It shone in the bland room, and he suddenly wanted to grab his sword and head back to the stable, back with Vali. He brushed it with his fingers instead and turned to the latest mess.  
  
Vincent Valentine waited by Cloud’s desk, intimidating gun clasped in his claw. At his feet, facing the bed, Reno sat with his arms and legs secured with a thin black rope. He scowled magnificently through his gag, only to choke a little when he noticed Cloud. Cloud almost waved at him before catching himself.  
  
Vincent shrugged a little, one shoulder gracefully rising and falling. “He broke into your room last night.”  
  
Cloud grimaced as he sat on his bed. Ugh. “No one came looking for him?” No one else was going to be trussed like one of his mom’s solstice geese next time he returned to his own room? President ShinRa, maybe?  
  
Vincent settled against the wall. “He decided to take initiative.” He looked at Reno and raised an eyebrow at him. For a moment, he looked remarkably like Cloud’s mother when he decided he was going to use _that_ knife for practice. That was roughly the same time he learned about finding the balance on different blades.  
  
Behind the gag, Reno grunted. He wiggled before settling back on the floor. Cloud hoped he didn’t have to use the bathroom.  
  
With that cheerful thought in his head, Cloud groaned and flopped back on the bed. “What are you going to do to him? You can’t keep him.”  
  
Vincent didn’t answer. Cloud quickly sat back up. “You can’t kill him.”  
  
Vincent raised an eyebrow. A supposedly legendary Turk – Cloud needed to talk with Zack about that – shouldn’t be able to remind Cloud of his mother so much. “He was searching your room,” Vincent pointed out reasonably. “He knows I’m here.”  
  
“You could have just let him search the room,” Cloud pointed out just as reasonably. “He wouldn’t have found anything. And he doesn’t know who you are.” This conversation reminded Cloud of conversations with his mother, too. Just the topic was a bit more serious than wasting food to sacrifice to nonexistent gods.  
  
“It’s the principle.” Vincent sounded almost prim. Cloud wanted to hide his face in his hands.  
  
Reno’s head swiveled between them as they spoke. With Vincent still behind him, he could only look in Vincent’s general direction. Still bound, he stretched out on the floor, for all appearances seeming content with just watching them. Cloud wasn’t worried about him escaping; Vincent tied him, after all. He was worried about Reno attempting to escape. Vincent would shoot first and ask questions later.  
  
Cloud sighed. Maybe a different tactic was needed. “He doesn’t know who you are, right?”  
  
Vincent shook his head. Cloud hummed and thought about it. Sephiroth and Zack knew about Vincent, but no one else did. Cloud wasn’t sure what Vincent did when Cloud wasn’t there, but he had a good guess, whether he wanted to or not.  
  
And Vincent was a Turk.  
  
“Maybe he should know,” Cloud offered. “If anything else, as warning.” _If this could happen to Vincent, it could happen to you, too._ The SOLDIERs already had their own version of a wake-up call.  
  
Rather than look surprised or scornful, Vincent simply looked thoughtful. Cloud liked that about Vincent. Vincent never brushed off his suggestions. Vincent didn’t flash a plastic smile and go about with his own damned plans, either.  
  
Reno looked intrigued, too, at least enough to raise himself up from his sprawled position. He raised an eyebrow at Cloud. Cloud shrugged back. Sadly enough, this didn’t even rank in Cloud’s top five odd moments.  
  
After several moments, Vincent nodded. His gun remained relaxed in his claw as he stooped in front of Reno. Reno watched him with belligerent and curious eyes, reminding Cloud of a cat.  
  
“You are of the latest generation of Turks,” Vincent murmured. It wasn’t a question. Reno did not attempt an answer. “I was…of an earlier generation. I came upon Hojo during his rise to power. I foolishly believed he would not dare attack a Turk.”  
  
Reno reclined on the floor like a lazy feline instead of a trussed-up goose, but his shoulders hunched slightly toward Vincent, and his gaze never wavered. The pair seemed to exist in their own private bubble, Turk secrets and rules wrapping around them like hazard barricade tape.  
  
“President ShinRa still supports Hojo’s ambitions, even in death. He ranks his Turks with his SOLDIERs.”   
  
…for some reason, Cloud felt like he had just been insulted.  
  
“But,” Vincent continued quietly, “there is always another path.”  
  
With that, he reached over and pulled Reno’s gag off. It looked heavier than Cloud expected, and Reno flexed his jaw once before falling still again. It occurred to Cloud that Reno had been bound and gagged on the floor all night. He cringed. At least Sephiroth hadn’t stalled off returning them to Midgar that morning.  
  
Reno didn’t look away from Vincent. “Who are you?” he asked, a sliver of steel lacing his voice.  
  
Vincent held his gaze for a moment, just long enough for him to answer, “Vincent Valentine.” He then stood up and walked over to Cloud, leaving Reno like he was a discarded doll. Reno jerked on the floor behind him like Vincent had tasered him as he left. Cloud couldn’t identify the expressions that flashed over Reno’s face, twisting his mouth and widening his eyes, before Reno completely shut down, only his fast breathing giving him away.  
  
Vincent sat beside Cloud on the bed and stared at Cloud’s sword. “Have you named it?”  
  
Cloud blinked. He looked between his sword and Vincent. “Um, not yet?” he offered, looking back at Reno. He thought Reno was more important the naming his sword at the moment, really.  
  
He looked at Reno to see Reno watching them. The man’s body was relaxed under the tight rope, his mouth faintly pursed as if in thought. For the first time, Cloud realized he was alone in his bedroom with two Turks, one allegedly dead, the other tied up. He also realized he couldn’t decide which one was worse.  
  
Cloud sighed.  
  
Vincent didn’t look at either of them. He studied the sword. “It deserves a name,” he commented. “Something to consider.”  
  
Hmmm. Cloud didn’t ask for suggestions. It was his sword, after all. “Might have something,” he admitted. It just wasn’t a priority right then.  
  
Cloud noticed Reno’s gaze now focused on him. He rather thought Reno should be watching the man with the gun, but that was a Turk for you: odd. Instead, Reno’s nose wrinkled a little as he looked Cloud over. His mouth moved silently, and Cloud wished lip-reading was among his skills. Then Reno’s head twisted so he could look better at Vincent. Just looking at Reno was starting to make Cloud ache, but the Turk seemed somehow comfortable with it, like he didn’t notice the thin rope biting into his clothes.  
  
“How do I know you’re really Vincent Valentine?” Reno demanded.  
  
Vincent stood in one fluid motion, like he had just been waiting for that question, and strode to Reno’s side again. He knelt and whispered in Reno’s ear. With an inward sigh, Cloud studied his sword and thought of names. Unfortunately, even the ones he had considered earlier escaped him then. His skin prickled with the feel of two predators so close to him.  
  
Vincent’s mouth tightened shut decisively even as Reno’s fell open a little. His strange task done, Vincent stood and walked back to Cloud. The bed didn’t move as Vincent sat. Cloud wasn’t sure if that was due to Vincent or the bed.   
  
Reno’s mouth closed into a small frown as he looked them both over. “You were in Nibelheim the entire time.” Vincent nodded. Reno’s eyes flicked to Cloud, studying him like he was a shiny new piece of materia. Cloud refused to squirm.  
  
“The other Turks need to know.”  
  
Vincent didn’t move. “Who else?”  
  
Cloud carefully didn’t look at him. There was someone else?  
  
Reno’s shoulders drew back. “Rufus,” he said. His chin tilted upward a notch. “He’s…he’s one of us.”  
  
A moment of silence, another silent conversation Cloud happily allowed to fly above his head. Then Reno nodded as much as he could toward Cloud. “And him?”  
  
“Killed Hojo,” Vincent reminded. Cloud sometimes wondered if that was what Vincent thought every time he looked at Cloud.  
  
Reno settled back on the floor, face thoughtful. “Future SOLDIER,” he pointed out, and the fact that someone besides Zack and Sephiroth – a Turk, nonetheless – believed that pleased Cloud more than he could say. He pressed his mouth shut tightly to hide his smile. Who knew what impression Reno would gain from that.  
  
Vincent looked at the door. Reno followed his gaze, too. For the hell of it, so did Cloud. He saw a door. A closed, locked door. Cloud wondered what he was supposed to see.  
  
“Not just,” Vincent murmured, and Reno nodded. Cloud…still didn’t get it. Maybe it was time for him to get some sleep. He was already on his bed.  
  
Except for the fact that he was alone with two Turks.  
  
Cloud decided to stay awake.  
  
“The other SOLDIERs?” Reno inquired. He sounded casually business-like in way Zack could never quite pull off.  
  
Vincent nodded toward the door again. “They haven’t joined us yet.”  
  
Cloud studied the door. There was no sign that two Turks broke in earlier. He bet there would be no sign on the outside, either. There was no sign of anything, really: just a door.  
  
“All right,” Reno agreed to…something. “Let me up.”  
  
Vincent stood again and walked over to Reno. In a matter of seconds, Reno was carefully easing himself to his feet. Vincent murmured something, and Reno nodded curtly, looking back at Cloud. Cloud looked back, hoping his cluelessness wasn’t obvious.  
  
Reno’s lazy grin didn’t comfort him at all. “I’ll see you soon, kid,” he promised, and then he slipped out of the door. Cloud didn’t even see him unlock it.  
  
“I need a new lock,” Cloud announced when he and Vincent were alone.  
  
“You need traps,” Vincent corrected. He walked over to Cloud and extended a hand. “And preparations.”  
  
Cloud warily accepted it. Vincent pulled him to his feet with easy strength. “For what?”  
  
Vincent’s smile was always a frightening thing. “For dealing with Turks.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS IT. THE FINAL PART. AFTER TEN YEARS (or so). LOOK, ARTIMUSDIN! IT FINALLY HAPPENED.
> 
> ...now let's ignore this is the first completed part of a story ARC.

By the time Zack returned, Cloud sat alone with a bowl of chicken and noodles steaming in his lap. Cloud resisted every urge to look up, hearing nothing but feeling Zack’s stare. There was nothing from the cracked window but he felt _that_ stare, too. The weight made him want to curl up and hide. Instead, he twirled the smooth noodles around his fork. The door finally clicked shut and Cloud took a bite, Vincent’s quiet words echoing in his head.

“I asked you not to leave this room.” Zack’s voice sounded unnaturally neutral. Cloud tried to remember that tone ever being directed his way.

Cloud thought about the wolves and slurped another noodle. It was probably good but he couldn’t taste it. It burnt the roof of his mouth. “No,” Cloud corrected. “You ordered me not to leave the room. I didn’t.”

The _sir_ was silent in noise but loud in implication. Cloud slurped another noodle before he could open his mouth and say anything else. Truthfully, he didn’t have any more information to give, but right then, he saw no reason to let Zack know that. He didn’t know anything from the food’s origins to where he currently stood with Zack and Sephiroth. He couldn’t imagine Vincent going to the cafeteria. He guessed Vincent picked up the food from where he himself ate. That pleased Cloud.

Zack’s mouth thinned. That pleased Cloud, too, that hurt, bitter part of him that wondered if he should be standing up and saluting. He thought he was figuring out where he stood with them, not yet a SOLDIER but a partner, nonetheless. It hurt and that bitter part of him wanted Zack to hurt, too.

Instead, Cloud twirled more noodles around his fork. Instead, he thought about how his mother would make them and how the kitchen would smell. He thought about how they ate after pouring some of their mead into the earth. He didn’t think about how the angry glow of Zack’s eyes lit up the room. He didn’t think about how few times through his history with Zack that the other man had been genuinely angry with him or how few times he had been genuinely angry with Zack.

Cloud ate his noodles and thought of Wutai.

Zack’s inhale seemed to take all of the air out of the room. “Vincent’s dangerous, Cloud. You –”

Cloud swallowed his noodles and pointed his fork at Zack like a sword. To his pride, his hand didn’t shake at all. “You get to order me around on missions and keep ShinRa secrets from me –” Zack flinched like Cloud had thrown the fork at him “--but you _don’t_ get to tell me who I can and can’t be friends with.”

Zack braced his Buster Sword against the wall and sank into the desk chair, oblivious to the fact that Reno had been bound for hours where his feet now rested. That knowledge helped relax Cloud enough to remember Vincent’s advice. He exhaled quietly and resumed eating.

Several minutes passed, only broken by Cloud’s slurping and the squeaks of Zack’s chair every time he squirmed. When Cloud finished his noodles and started on his chicken, Zack broke. “I’m sorry.”

The tattered edges in Zack’s voice scraped at Cloud, but he reminded himself of the wolves and Zack ordering him to his room like a child instead of a trooper. Instead of like a SOLDIER in training. He bit hard on the chicken and jarred his teeth on the fork. Zack flinched again and Cloud wanted to apologize. He wanted to take it back. He wanted to take that look away from Zack’s eyes. He hated that he put it there.

But he said nothing. Zack hurt but so did he. Cloud made mistakes but so did Zack.

And Sephiroth.

Cloud wasn’t perfect, but neither were they. The thought terrified Cloud as much as it soothed him. Sephiroth had been telling him that since the beginning but he had been too horrified by his own mistakes to notice Sephiroth’s. Zack had been too busy standing in front of him protecting him to notice when Cloud was standing at his side. Both tried to treat Cloud like a child and a fellow Soldier, with Cloud the one caught in the crossfire.

“ _It would be a wasteful and shallow way to die_ ,” Vincent said as he left.

“I shouldn’t have ordered you to stay in the room,” Zack said, and he sounded too loud in the silence of the room. He ran his hands through his hair and tugged restlessly at the ends. “But I was just trying –”

The fork came up again. “If you say keep me safe, I swear, Zack, the poison ivy will be a fond memory.”

Zack scowled and looked away. He put his hands on his thighs and scratched at his pants. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “You can take care of yourself. You’ve proven that a hundred times over.”

Cloud stared at his dinner. Steam no longer rose from it. He didn’t want to eat; he just wanted to sleep, maybe drag Zack down with him. He took another bite of chicken. Only when it was thoroughly chewed and swallowed did he trust himself to answer. “Am I with you guys or not?”

That had Zack on his feet in an instant. “Yes! Of course!” He caught Cloud’s eyes for an instant before he needed to look away. Cloud clenched his fork so hard it hurt his palm as Zack started to pace. He half-expected him to drop to the floor and start doing push-ups. “It’s just…it’s just…”

Zack flailed as he tried to put his thoughts into words. Cloud finally let himself have pity on him. “Was the hunt a fake?”

Zack whirled on Cloud so fast it made Cloud dizzy. “No! We couldn’t even plan anything for the wolves until we at least saw them. We hoped to hunt them down and catch two chocobos with one Lure. Then the ambush happened and we realized we couldn’t.”

Wide, pleading eyes almost broke the last of Cloud’s resolve. Zack looked young and pale and Cloud looked down at his food again. Only two bites of chicken left. He poked one with a fork, thought about the time twenty-six leisurely chews could buy him. He put down his fork again. Okay. He could do this. “With President ShinRa as the other chocobo.”

Instantly, Zack nodded, head snapping up and down like a child’s toy. Zack’s energy was exhausting at the best of times, nonetheless now. “President ShinRa’s mind works on the ‘shiny object’ principle. We needed to get all the shiny objects out of way for a little bit. When he notices there’s no profit to this, he’ll look to shinier material.”

Cloud didn’t point out that Zack was the last person to talk about an attraction to shiny objects. He also didn’t point out that ShinRa wasn’t the only interested party. With a small sigh, he put the remainder of his food on his bedside table. Zack must have seen something on his face because he rushed on. “We just…we just keep assuming –”

It suddenly occurred to Cloud that it was a good thing he had put down his food, because otherwise he would have thrown it at Zack right then. He glared hard at Zack, and the older man shut up. Vincent’s words echoed in his head. _…a wasteful and shallow way to die_.

“Stop assuming! I can’t protect myself if you assume wrong. I can’t trust you guys to protect me, either, when I have no idea what you’re assuming I do and do not know.”

Another flinch and Cloud hated that he felt like he was kicking a puppy every time Zack did that. He sighed and rubbed his face. When he looked up again, Zack knelt before him, hands on the mattress by Cloud’s legs. He had never even heard Zack move.

“Yeah,” Zack said quietly. He laughed, soft and brittle, and shook his head. “I knew from the first moment I saw you that you were something special. You and Sephiroth both. Huh, Aeris, too, really. All of you just keep knocking me off balance. Every time I think I have things figured out, every time I know exactly what’s going on and what I’m going to do, Sephiroth smiles at me or you shoot some monster sneaking up behind me or Aeris says something…” He shook his head again, like he was trying to physically shake a thought away. “My mama always said I was a dreamer, and no one was ever better at keeping me down to earth than you guys.”

Cloud’s mouth went dry, but he forced himself to speak. Zack had given him the perfect opening. “So do I stand equal? With them? With you?”

_What am I, Zack? A child or a SOLDIER?_

Zack’s brilliant grin warmed up something cold in Cloud’s stomach. “Definitely one of us, Cloud.”

Finally allowing himself to smile back, Cloud thought of exactly what he would do to Zack if Zack forgot that again. He was sure Vali would have no problem helping.

Now he just had to be courageous enough to tell Sephiroth if Sephiroth forgot, too. Realizing once and for all that someone was mortal didn’t kill years of hero worship that easily.

Still, the realization that Sephiroth was probably just as off balance as he helped.

“I’m not going to assume you know this, so I’m just going to say it,” Zack continued. “You’re not just my wildcard, you’re _the_ wildcard. Only certain people know that you killed Hojo, and that’s all they know. That makes you very dangerous in their eyes. They don’t know about you, and they’re going to assume the worst. Until Soldier is up and running again, you don’t have that protection. You need to be careful.”

Cloud thought of Reno and smiled ruefully. “Yeah, I’m getting that.” Guilt flashed through him as he realized that, for all of his complaining about Zack keeping secrets, now he was keeping one.

Well, when Zack calmed down a bit about Vincent, Cloud would tell him.

“Now what’s going on?” Cloud asked, banishing the thought from his mind. “What’s the plan?”

Zack exhaled like he was trying to clear all the air from his lungs. He fingered Cloud’s blanket. “The immediate plan was for us to hide for a bit, but if we’re going to talk big plans, Seph should be involved. He’s allegedly resting in his room now. I’m hoping that the President will be too busy looking for his scientists to be paying attention to us, and the scientists will be too busy running from their own experiments and _you_ to help him out.”

Cloud involuntarily smiled at the realization of what a single military issued canteen and a desperate desire for a diversion had created. He looked down at Zack and waited for him to move. To his confusion, the other man stayed still kneeling on the floor, staring at his fingers as they traced over the blanket.

“Zack?” he prodded.

When Zack looked up again, a small, twitchy smile played on his lips. He extended his hand and rested it on Cloud’s knee. “All four of us, together, Cloud,” he said quietly. “In any way you want.”

Cloud’s breath caught but not in surprise. Some part of him had been _waiting_ but the rest of him hadn’t dared to expect it. It was too ridiculous for an outcast mountain boy, too insane to consider. His brain caught on _all four_ , but then he skipped past it. Like Zack would possibly leave Aeris.

For the three of them, though…it was too insane to consider unless he considered sleeping in a mountain cave with Zack and Sephiroth and their tentacles. Unless he considered Vincent at the bottom of the stairs or Aeris in her church, something about her open and expectant, like she knew something he didn’t and was more than ready for it. Unless he considered he was no longer that lone mountain boy, that he was a We instead of a He.

He felt terrified but calm, like he was on the brink of a glorious battle. Cloud reached for Zack’s hand and squeezed. “I think Sephiroth is waiting for us.”

Zack’s bright grin killed one fluttering group of nerves and energized another. He leaped to his feet and Cloud climbed off the bed. Not looking at Zack, he walked over to the wall to his own sword. He saw the flutter of Vincent's cape and thought he heard a soft death threat. Deciding it was his imagination, he grabbed both his sword and his duffle. Who knew who would break in next, after all?

He didn’t think about the change in clothes in his bag or why he might need them.

Zack grinned once more at him and then led the way into the hall. “By the way,” he tossed over his shoulder, “Sephiroth has a private shower. I don’t know about you, but I’m due for one.”

Cloud tripped and almost impaled himself on his own sword.

xoxoxox

Zack knocked once on Sephiroth’s door and stood still and silent, all but holding his breath, for a moment. As if he heard a signal, he opened the door and breezed in like he had never stopped at all. Cloud waited a heartbeat before following, his feet heavy even if his head felt too light. He had been in Sephiroth’s room before, usually following Zack as he veered immediately to the right and then threw himself onto Sephiroth’s black couch. Less often, he followed Zack to the small kitchen on the left side of the apartment and listened to Zack bitch about the empty fridge and cupboards.

Cloud had never followed Zack straight back into Sephiroth’s bedroom.

It was as sparse as the rest of the apartment, the bed a clean black rectangle in the middle of the room. Sephiroth paused where he stood beside the bed. Cloud looked at the clean clothes folded on the sheets and the open dresser to Sephiroth’s left. It didn’t surprise Cloud that Sephiroth immediately sorted his clothes and put them away upon returning from a mission.

The look of pleased surprise on Sephiroth’s face immediately brought a smile to Cloud’s own. He waved a little before carefully placing his things by the door. He put his sword down carefully, the blade gleaming in the pale light of Sephiroth’s room. Cloud’s hand lingered on the hilt before he pulled away. At that moment, he was more confident of the sword’s new name than ever before.

 _Fenrir_.

“I wasn’t expecting you so soon,” Sephiroth said mildly. He didn’t blink when Zack plucked the pants out of his hands and placed them on the bed. Ignoring Zack, he picked up the bundle of clothes off the bed and placed them on the dresser. Zack immediately threw himself down where the clothes had been. Sephiroth didn’t look surprised by that, either.

“We felt it was time to discuss plans,” Zack said cheerfully, and if it wasn’t for the tightness around his eyes, Cloud would have been fooled by his bright tone. Sephiroth’s hands stilled on his clothes.

“Plans?” he inquired. He stared at Zack with an intensity that made Cloud shiver. Zack just grinned back, teeth white and even.

“Like how we’re going to make Cloud a full-fledged SOLDIER when the scientists think they’re next on his hit list and the prez thinks he’s a prettier toy than a SOLDIER.”

Cloud swallowed. He had been trying hard not to think about that himself. How could he stand equal with them if he couldn’t stand _equal?_

Sephiroth’s gaze shifted to Cloud, all that intensity on him. Cloud swallowed again for an entirely different reason.

“And Hojo’s other experiments,” Sephiroth murmured.

 _And the Turks_ , Cloud thought. _And Vincent._

Zack extended a hand to Cloud. “We have a lot we need to work on,” Zack agreed. “And then there are the _other_ plans.”

Sephiroth’s eyes suddenly blazed so bright they made Mako pools look like tar pits. “Other plans?”

Feeling like he had been slammed by dragon’s breath, Cloud walked over to Zack and took his hand. He yelped when Zack yanked him to the bed. “Yep,” Zack said cheerfully.

Sephiroth didn’t move from his spot beside the dresser. Cloud felt overwhelmed but Sephiroth didn’t. Sephiroth looked like he was facing down an army. “Zack…” he rasped. His gaze on Cloud felt like Masamune through the chest. “Cloud, don’t feel –”

Zack’s arm tight around him, Cloud extended his own hand. He was overwhelmed, not stupid. “We’re going to be against the whole world soon enough,” he pointed out. “Let’s go together.”

Something seemed to crack in Sephiroth, like Cloud’s canteen against a madman’s head or Cloud offering forgiveness in a dark Nibelheim cave.

His hand felt hot in Cloud’s.

Zack grinned like a loon. He leaned over so he could press his forehead against Cloud’s. Something ripped, and Cloud groaned when he realized there went another pair of Zack’s pants.

Sephiroth only sighed and sat beside Cloud, still holding his hand. One thumb rubbed against Cloud’s skin. It was beyond distracting, almost enough to make Cloud forget Vincent’s coaching. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed Sephiroth’s hand.

“I need for you guys to talk to me more.” The words felt like sharp stones being forced out of Cloud’s mouth, but he had to do this. _Together_ , Zack said. “I didn’t understand about the Shadow bit or why we had to leave Midgar or any of it. I’m willing to work to understand all of this, but…” Cloud shook his head. “You guys can’t keep assuming I know what’s going on.” His smile twisted his mouth. “Not a SOLDIER yet, after all.”

Yet. That tasted sweet.

Zack exhaled close to Cloud’s face. It smelled like coffee. “Yeah,” Zack agreed.

Sephiroth was a warm line against his side. “If we fail to do so, ask us to explain. We always will.”

Yeah. And if they didn’t, Vincent offered some suggestions.

A coffee-scented laugh, and Zack said, “Once upon a time, in the mountains of Nibel, a mad scientist tried – _oof!_ ”

After Cloud retracted his elbow from Zack’s side, Zack grinned and rubbed the spot. It looked a little forced, a little tired, but the light in his eyes remained sincere. “There’s a lot to work on,” he continued, more seriously. “We’re pretty sure Hojo’s scientists fled before Cloud could take them out, too,” Cloud rolled his eyes so hard it hurt, “but we don’t know if they just went to different labs or if Hojo had some sort of back-up in place. We won’t know until we finish investigating the labs.”

“And maybe Hojo’s lab in Nibelheim if this is part of his back-up plans,” Cloud added.

Sephiroth nodded. “We need to capture one of the wolves. Were they releases as a diversion or something else?”

“And are there any other surprises like them?” Zack continued.

Cloud laughed, his mind spinning. “We really do have a lot to do.”

Zack’s lips brushed against his cheek. Cloud’s breath caught. “But we’re together. We can handle it.”

Before Zack could pull away, Cloud turned his head and brushed Zack’s mouth with his own. Cloud heard Sephiroth exhale sharply behind him. Cloud didn’t let himself think; he just moved forward, pressing his mouth more firmly against Zack’s.

“Cloud,” Sephiroth murmured, the ache clear in his voice.

Zack groaned softly against his mouth. “Don’t want to push you,” he said against Cloud’s lips. Now Cloud could actually taste the coffee.

Ugh, these two. Cloud released Sephiroth’s hand to use both of his to shove Zack to the bed. Zack fell back with a yelp and flailing tentacles. Cloud crawled on top of him. He braced himself with a hand on each side of Zack’s shocked face. Zack’s tentacles squirmed distractingly against his thighs. “I can kill a man, drag two SOLDIERs up a mountainside, fight Mako-enhanced wolves, and stand toe-to-toe with SOLDIERs. I can take whatever you can throw at me, Zack.”

That was what Vincent had told him before he left. Cloud knew he hadn’t meant for his encouragement to be used like _this_ , but with Zack frozen under him and Sephiroth hot and still behind him, Cloud actually _believed_ it. _He_ made Zack’s eyes darken like that, turned Sephiroth on with his touch.

Maybe he wasn’t a SOLDIER yet. Maybe, if they couldn’t figure out how to manage it, he would never be, but for the first time, Cloud believed he could actually be their equals.

Zack licked his lips, eyes burning. Zack _looked_ at him like an equal. “No doubt there,” Zack murmured, and then Zack was pulling him down and kissing him like he was devouring his mouth, his energy tearing through Cloud like a storm.

Behind him, there was another rip, and then Cloud felt long, muscled tentacles weaving around him and Zack. He groaned into Zack’s mouth, and Zack laughed back.

Sephiroth leaned against Cloud’s back, and he thought he heard the man whisper _Thank you_ before he started kissing the back of Cloud’s neck. Cloud shuddered. Zack pulled away to start kissing down Cloud’s jaw to his throat. “You’re overdressed, Cloud.”

Cloud snorted even as he arched against Sephiroth. The only reason Sephiroth and Zack were half-naked was because they tore their pants off!

Then he felt _someone’s_ tentacle sliding into the waist of his own pants and he shuddered. Never mind, that was fine. They could tear his pants off, too.

Sephiroth whispered in what sounded like Wutain against Cloud’s skin as hands and tentacles methodically stripped Cloud naked. Wet mouths followed, licking and biting. Cloud cried out as Sephiroth bit his hip, and Zack silenced him by sliding a tentacle into his mouth. Automatically, Cloud sucked hard on it. Zack groaned, the tentacle shuddering in his mouth.

Tentacles – Sephiroth’s, they had to be Sephiroth’s – wrapped around his ankles and spread his legs even wider. Before Cloud could adjust his balance, trembling tentacles encircled his waist and held him steady. Cloud panted around the tentacle in his mouth. He opened his eyes, having no idea when he closed them, to see Zack staring behind him with eyes blown black in desire. Cloud started to shift –

And felt Sephiroth’s mouth trail down the small of his back to his ass, hot, wet, and _hungry_.

Cloud jerked – he had to be _dirty_ – but hands and tentacles held him still. Zack’s hands cupped his face, and they were _shaking_ , Zack was _shaking,_ and Zack kept trying to meet his eyes and look behind him at what Sephiroth was doing with his _mouth_ , oh by _Hel_.

“Any time,” Zack rasped, “ _any time_ any of this is too much for you, Cloud, you signal and we’re done. Okay? Okay?”

There was only one way for Cloud to answer that. He took a deep breath and slid the tentacle deeper into his mouth. Under him, Zack shuddered and groaned. He focused on sucking, on taking it as deep into him as he could, as he felt Sephiroth’s mouth settle over his hole. A part of him kept whispering and worrying but Sephiroth never hesitated. He sucked on the crinkled flesh, gripping Cloud’s hips when he jerked. When Sephiroth’s slick tongue pushed its way inside him, Cloud yelped and almost choked on Zack’s tentacle.

“Easy, Cloud,” Zack whispered, “easy.” He pulled his tentacle back, but Cloud grabbed it with his hand, stopping him. The tentacle felt like solid muscle in his grip, smooth, almost slick. He rubbed it as he sucked. Behind him, Sephiroth licked and bit at his hole, tongue slipping inside the ring of muscle before pulling back out and teasing around the sensitive hole.

He had died, Cloud thought deliriously. Zack’s tentacle slid heavy and smooth over his tongue, almost choking him but not quite. Sephiroth’s tongue felt like nothing he had ever imagined, not even in the dead of night. Their tentacles moved restlessly over him, slick and strong over his naked skin. Maybe he had died against the wolves. He had died a warrior’s death and Hel rewarded him. He had earned his paradise.

Then that lovely tongue pulled back. Cloud gasped, and Zack took advantage to tease the tip of another tentacle around his mouth. Cloud hadn’t realized he was drooling around the thick tentacle until the tentacle wiped it up and then the tip slid to join the first tentacle in his mouth. So distracted by the extra girth, it took Cloud a moment to realize it wasn’t Sephiroth’s tongue pushing against his hole now.

 _Oh_. Cloud arched his back, and he heard Sephiroth groan. Then the tentacle pushed inside him.

“Oh _fuck_ , Cloud,” Zack gasped in the distance. Cloud barely made out his words. The tentacle was thicker than Cloud’s fingers, than Sephiroth’s tongue. Cloud shuddered and pushed back, and the tentacle slid deeper inside of him.

He had done good, he had done _so good_ , and Hel rewarded him for his courage and devotion and _this_ was a _damned_ good reward.

“Cloud,” Sephiroth breathed, like he had found his own heaven.

The tentacle slid and pushed and writhed inside of him. He wailed around Zack’s tentacles and then those were gone. Sephiroth’s tentacle scraped against something inside of him and Cloud almost screamed before Zack’s mouth was there again, breathing in Cloud’s gasps and cries.

Something wrapped tightly around his waist and then Cloud felt _it_ , another tentacle pressing to join the first. Cloud arched deliriously into the touch and then the pressure inside him grew, almost too much but not yet enough. Cloud thought he was shouting but all he knew were the touches around him and inside him.

“ _Cloud_ ,” someone said, but the word was so far away and meaningless.

Cloud rocked into the tentacles, feeling them twist and push inside him, touching that magical spot, and now he knew he was crying out and he _didn’t care_.

“ _Together_ ,” someone whispered into his ear, and something blazed hot like Fire inside of him. Cloud shouted and the world went up in flames.

He dozed, feeling hands clean him and settle him more securely on the bed through miles of cotton. Tentacles wrapped around his hips and legs.

“I love you,” he thought he heard someone say. Half-asleep, Cloud smiled.

His mother had never told him that he would have days like this, but he thought she would approve.


End file.
